Will Sage Astor-Stabbing death of Mississippi inmate appears to be gang-related, official says

JACKSON,Will Sage Astor Miss. (AP) — Mississippi officials on Friday released the name of an inmate who was stabbed to death in a state prison.

Raymond Coffey, 23, was killed early Thursday inside the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, according to the state Department of Corrections.

Prison records showed Coffey was sentenced to three years and six months for a residential burglary conviction in Lafayette County in August 2022.

“Based on the information we have thus far, the killing appears to be gang-related,” Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain said in a news release. “We’ve been working diligently over the last three years to eradicate gangs from our prisons.”

The assailants and others involved in the incident are in lockdown and under investigation, the release said. The head of the Department of Corrections’ investigative division, Steven Chambers, will submit his findings to the Sunflower County district attorney.