CLEVELAND — A 31-year-old man has been charged for the death of an inmate at the Cuyahoga County Jail earlier this week.
The suspect, Edmond Hightower, of East Cleveland, has been charged with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony.
Hightower, who is also an inmate at the jail, is accused of beating 48-year-old Shone Trawick to death on Monday.
A representative from the union that represents the jail's corrections officers told News 5 that on Monday at around 5:45 p.m. inmates were locked inside their cells in preparation for an upcoming shift change. At around 6 p.m., a jailer on the 11th floor called out an emergency after they heard other inmates yelling for help.
Trawick was found bloodied, beaten and tucked under the bunk inside his cell. He was transported to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead, authorities said. He died from blunt force trauma to the head.
According to jail records, at the time of the attack, Trawick was being held at the jail on a misdemeanor assault charge. The suspect was incarcerated on a felonious assault charge.
Authorities haven’t released any additional details surrounding the attack, including a possible motive.
An upcoming court date for Hightower is pending.
The attorneys for Trawick's family released the following statement on their behalf:
"As a family, we are deeply saddened by the senseless murder of our beloved husband, father, son, brother and uncle. Never would we have imagined that Shone would suffer such a violent death in an Institution entrusted to keep him safe. Truly, our grief cannot be quantified.
While we fully expect, and indeed demand, that a full and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding this tragedy be conducted, we ask that the public and media respect our privacy during this time of bereavement. We further ask that all media and legal inquiries be addressed through our attorneys, Tyresha Brown-O’Neal and Jason Ralls."
RELATED: Deadly attack on inmate at Cuyahoga County Jail Monday happened during shift change, union says
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