06-27-2008, 02:21 AM
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- A hiding inmate used a shiv to fatally stab a veteran female corrections officer who was trying to take him into custody inside a prison facility, Local 6 has learned.
Enoch Hall, 39, was charged with first-degree murder Thursday for the death of 13-year veteran corrections officer Donna Fitzgerald at the Tomoka Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach.
At some point Wednesday night, Hall was discovered missing.
Fitzgerald entered a welding shed, spotted Hall and tried to take him into custody, Local 6's Mike Deforest reported.
Hall admitted that he repeatedly stabbed Fitzgerald and hid the metal tool in a concrete block wall, DeForest reported. The shiv was later found by officers.
Hall also said he was working in the prison's industrial facility when he grabbed a piece of sheet metal formed into a knife, DeForest reported.
Head Count Questioned
Meanwhile, there are contradicting reports that Fitzgerald was conducting a head count when Hall was discovered missing.
A Department of Corrections representative said officers took a head count and that is when they discovered he was missing.
However, a prison secretary said the incident had nothing to do with a head count.
Local 6 reported that if Hall was discovered missing during a head count, the facility should have been put on lockdown under prison policy.
Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil explained the dangers officers face daily during a news conference Thursday afternoon.
"The general public does not always understand the dangers our officers face behind these fences," McNeil said. "As correction professionals, we know that each and every day the possibility of death and injury is an ever-present aspect of the job. Yet, when it happens -- like we all are across our department today -- it is shocking and heart-wrenching. We are dismayed."
Neighbor: 'Give Him Death'
Meanwhile, Fitzgerald's neighbors and friends were offering help for the woman's family.
The woman's son, Kyle, also recently lost his father, Local 6's J.R. Stone reported.
"We are all going to step in," a family friend said. "The family will step in and do whatever we can for him."
Several neighbors described Fitzgerald's generosity.
"From the day we moved in, she always invited us over for dinner," a neighbor said. "Give him the death penalty, as far as I'm concerned."
"Obviously, he didn't personally know her or it would not have happened," another neighbor said.
Hall Is Violent Criminal
Hall is a violent criminal who was sentenced to life in prison for a kidnapping and sexual battery in Escambia County in 1993.
Hall was also charged and given a 12-year sentence for an earlier attack while in prison.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Volusia County Sheriff's Office is assisting in the investigation.
Related Link: http://www.local6.com/news/16720028/detail.html
Enoch Hall, 39, was charged with first-degree murder Thursday for the death of 13-year veteran corrections officer Donna Fitzgerald at the Tomoka Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach.
At some point Wednesday night, Hall was discovered missing.
Fitzgerald entered a welding shed, spotted Hall and tried to take him into custody, Local 6's Mike Deforest reported.
Hall admitted that he repeatedly stabbed Fitzgerald and hid the metal tool in a concrete block wall, DeForest reported. The shiv was later found by officers.
Hall also said he was working in the prison's industrial facility when he grabbed a piece of sheet metal formed into a knife, DeForest reported.
Head Count Questioned
Meanwhile, there are contradicting reports that Fitzgerald was conducting a head count when Hall was discovered missing.
A Department of Corrections representative said officers took a head count and that is when they discovered he was missing.
However, a prison secretary said the incident had nothing to do with a head count.
Local 6 reported that if Hall was discovered missing during a head count, the facility should have been put on lockdown under prison policy.
Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil explained the dangers officers face daily during a news conference Thursday afternoon.
"The general public does not always understand the dangers our officers face behind these fences," McNeil said. "As correction professionals, we know that each and every day the possibility of death and injury is an ever-present aspect of the job. Yet, when it happens -- like we all are across our department today -- it is shocking and heart-wrenching. We are dismayed."
Neighbor: 'Give Him Death'
Meanwhile, Fitzgerald's neighbors and friends were offering help for the woman's family.
The woman's son, Kyle, also recently lost his father, Local 6's J.R. Stone reported.
"We are all going to step in," a family friend said. "The family will step in and do whatever we can for him."
Several neighbors described Fitzgerald's generosity.
"From the day we moved in, she always invited us over for dinner," a neighbor said. "Give him the death penalty, as far as I'm concerned."
"Obviously, he didn't personally know her or it would not have happened," another neighbor said.
Hall Is Violent Criminal
Hall is a violent criminal who was sentenced to life in prison for a kidnapping and sexual battery in Escambia County in 1993.
Hall was also charged and given a 12-year sentence for an earlier attack while in prison.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Volusia County Sheriff's Office is assisting in the investigation.
Related Link: http://www.local6.com/news/16720028/detail.html