Tecumseh inmate indicted in another inmate's death
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By CORY MATTESON / Lincoln Journal Star
A Johnson County grand jury concluded Monday there is reason to believe a Tecumseh inmate was responsible for the death of a fellow inmate last year.
The grand jury indicted Michael S. Sullivan, 32, on three charges: manslaughter, assault by a confined person and second-degree assault.
The charges stem from a September attack that led to the death of inmate Reko Mitchell.
The incident took place Sept. 17 in a bathroom inside the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution gym. That afternoon, prison staff found Mitchell on the ground. He was taken that day from Tecumseh to BryanLGH Medical Center West in Lincoln.
Mitchell, 38, died at the hospital Oct. 3 after his family elected to take him off life support. An autopsy concluded his neck had been broken in two places.
The indictment means Sullivan will be tried on the charges, unless the district court is persuaded to believe the finding of probable cause is not supported by the evidence presented to the grand jury.
Nemaha County Attorney Louie Ligouri, special prosecutor appointed to investigate Mitchell’s death, forwarded all questions about the future of the case to Johnson County Attorney Julie Smith-Hogancamp.
On Wednesday, Smith-Hogancamp said Sullivan is tentatively set to be arraigned Feb. 25 on the charges spelled out in the grand jury indictment.
“If we would want to, we could proceed on information, and we would be able to charge him with whatever we want,” she said. “I’m not sure which way we’ll go.”
On Tuesday, James Martin Davis of Omaha, attorney for Mitchell’s family, said the family had been hoping for a more serious finding by the grand jury.
“They’re gonna be disappointed that it wasn’t a second-degree murder,” he said, because it implied that the act was not premeditated.
“They were hoping for a second-degree. His neck was broken in two places.”
Mitchell was 15 years into a 37-year sentence on multiple felony counts out of Douglas and Lancaster counties, including one count of sexual assault, two counts of using a firearm to commit a robbery and four counts of robbery.
Sullivan is serving a six-to-12 year sentence out of Douglas County on charges including robbery, use of a weapon to commit a felony and possession of morphine.
His projected release date on the current sentence is Sept. 22, 2009, according to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Web site.
Reach Cory Matteson at 473-2655 or cmatteson@journalstar.com.
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