LENNOX TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - Authorities with the Michigan State Police said they're investigating what led to the killing of a 26-year-old inmate at the Macomb Correctional Facility last week.
Authorities said via The Detroit News that inmate Martell Smith - who is serving a 14 to 30 year sentence for a 2013 homicide he pled guilty to - was found murdered on May 30.
Further information regarding the incident is scarce, but state police said they are taking over the case.
"I can confirm that we are investigating this homicide; we don’t discuss ongoing investigations," State Police spokeswoman Shanon Banner said to the Detroit News in an email on Monday.
According to Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz, the family was made aware of Smith's death.
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Smith's grandmother, Patricia Whitsell of Detroit, said she had received a call from prison authorities on May 31, one day after Smith had been killed.
"They told me there was an altercation and another inmate stabbed him in the neck with a shank," Whitsell said to The Detroit News. "They told me (guards who were trying to break up the fight) Tased him after he was stabbed. Why would they Tase him when he was just trying to protect himself?"
"I asked what happened with the other inmate who stabbed him, and they said they took him away," Whitsell added. "They told me they were investigating and would get back to me, but I haven't heard anything yet."
According to court records, Smith was charged with felony murder in connection to a Feb, 24, 2023 homicide. Smith ended up pleading guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced in 2015.
A 2020 Michigan Department of Corrections report released in 2021 had no reported homicides at the Macomb Correctional Facility.
The same report said 13 prisoners and seven employees were assaulted that year. Overall, three inmates at the facility had died in 2020; one was reported to be accidental while the others were from natural causes.
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