USA - Arkansas. Inmate Latavious Johnson sentenced to death for stabbing guard.

Inmate sentenced to death for stabbing guard. A Lee County jury convicted Latavious Johnson of capital murder in the January 2012 death of Cpl. Barbara Ester. Johnson, 33, Black, is an Arkansas inmate already serving life in prison, and has been sentenced to the death penalty in the stabbing death of a correctional officer. Prosecutor Fletcher Long says Johnson stabbed Ester while she was working as an officer at the East Arkansas Regional Unit in Brickeys, where Johnson was serving a life sentence for the killing of his father. Long says the stabbing happened after Ester made several attempts to confiscate contraband sneakers from Johnson. The Times-Herald reports that Johnson admitted in a written statement to stabbing Ester after blacking out. He apologized to her family, friends and co-workers.