ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) - A Maine man has admitted to killing his cellmate at Bolduc Correctional Center in 2018.
Zachary Titus, 35, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Thursday’s hearing in Knox County Court, Bangor Daily News reported.
The charge for the death of Dana Bartlett was reduced from murder to manslaughter as a part of a plea deal.
Titus is scheduled to be sentenced in March, and Assistant Attorney General Leanne Zainea said he will likely receive an 18-year sentence with 6 years suspended.
Former inmates told the publication that leading up to his death Bartlett was terrified of his cellmates and asked a guard to relocate him hours before he died. The guard allegedly refused to move him to another cell, the newspaper reported.
The Maine Department of Corrections says their investigation found “no indication” Bartlett asked to be moved for safety reasons.
Titus and Bartlett got into a fight over cigarettes earlier on the day he died, according to their two other cellmates.
In a police affidavit filed earlier this year, one of the cellmates said he witnessed Titus choke Bartlett with his arm in a “sleeper hold.” The other cellmate returned to the room from a smoke break and found Bartlett on the floor “lifeless” while Titus was trying to wake him up.
At the time, Titus was serving a two-year sentence for theft. He is now being held in the Knox County jail without bail.
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