State Inmate Fatally Stabbed

ELMORE COUNTY, Ala. - The Alabama Department of Corrections is investigating a fatal stabbing that occurred Sunday at the Elmore Correctional Facility in Elmore County.

James Lewis Kennedy, 39, was fatally stabbed during an altercation with another inmate inside the facility at approximately 9 a.m. Prison officials have identified 29-year-old Patrick Dean Smith as a suspect in the stabbing. The circumstances that led to the stabbing remain under investigation.

Kennedy was serving a life sentence for a 2004 first-degree burglary and attempted murder conviction in Henry County. Smith is serving a life sentence for a 2012 second-degree assault conviction in Mobile County. Smith will be charged with murder.


###