Sgt. Barbara Ester




Inmate Suspected of Stabbing Detention Officer Transferred to Varner Max

An Arkansas prison inmate is in solitary confinement, moved there after he allegedly stabbed a female detention officer in Brickeys Friday.

Prison officials say Latavious Johnson, already serving a life sentence for murder, has been transferred to the Varner super maximum security unit.

An investigation is still on-going to determine if he'll be charged with capital murder.

But prison officials say Sgt. Barbara Ester was trying to confiscate a pair of unauthorized tennis shoes when they say Johnson stabbed her with a shank likely made of a piece of an air conditioning vent and an ace bandage.

Sgt. Ester's husband, her niece, and some cousins also work at the Brickey's unit.

A charity organization for detention officers will be covering her funeral expenses but exact arrangements haven't been finalized.

It's only the second time in Arkansas prison history that a detention officer has died at the hands of an inmate. The other time was in 1995.

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