Corrections1 talked to Laura E. Bedard, Ph.D. Assistant Warden of Programs Corrections Corporation of America, Gadsden Correctional Institution in Quincy, Fla., who offered the following thoughts on this tragedy: “My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and co-workers of Officer Fitzgerald. Unfortunately sometimes it takes a tragedy to remind us of where we work and who we work with. Corrections is a dangerous business. Correctional Officers are certain they will come in contact with convicted felons every day, something law enforcement is not guaranteed. We always need to be mindful of our surroundings and cautious in our actions. Even then, we are not guaranteed safety.” |
The Associated Press
 Donna Fitzgerald |
This week: Calif. federal prison officer fatally stabbed by 2 inmates
April 19, 2008: Fla. female CO beaten, raped by inmate
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — An inmate serving two life terms for sexual battery and kidnapping was charged with first-degree murder, Thursday, in the rape and slaying of a female corrections officer at a Daytona Beach prison.
Authorities said Enoch Hall, 39, is charged with attacking Officer Donna Fitzgerald on Wednesday night while she was on duty at Tomoka Correctional Institution.
Fitzgerald, 50, of Port Orange, had worked at the prison for 13 years.
 Enoch Hall, 39, is charged with attacking 13-year veteran Donna Fitzgerald Wed. night. |
Hall made his initial appearance on the charge Thursday afternoon in Daytona Beach.
According to a Sheriff’s Office incident report, Hall stabbed Fitzgerald several times with piece of sheet metal formed into a knife. He got the sheet metal from an office inside a prison industries work building. Fitzgerald was searching for Hall, who hid in a welding shed.
When the officer attempted to take custody of Hall, the report said, he stabbed her. He then concealed the weapon in a nearby concrete block wall. He later told officers where he hid the knife, the report said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.
Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil said officers are not armed and carry only radios, a chemical agent and an alert device. He also said inmates are not restrained when they are being moved.
“Words cannot express the sorrow I feel over the loss of our correctional officer. The entire department grieves the murder of one of our finest officers and we pray for the victim’s family during this difficult time,” McNeil said in a statement.
State prison records show that Hall is already serving two life sentences for sexual battery with a weapon and kidnapping convictions from a 1993 case in Pensacola. He is accused of abducting a 66-year-old woman from an apartment complex.
Hall also served time in federal prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping a 23-year-old woman from a Pensacola parking lot on Feb. 22, 1992, and taking her to Alabama.
Gretl Plessinger, a DOC spokeswoman, said Hall has been at the Tomoka prison since 1994. He was a close custody inmate, which is the second highest custody status, just below those on death row, she said.
The prison was established in 1981 and houses adult male inmates. There is also a work camp and work release center. The prison can hold a maximum of 1,263 inmates.