MARYLAND (WBFF) — Shane Lanham Jr. was asleep in his cell at the Eastern Correctional Institute in Somerset County on March 29, 2025, when he was dragged from his bed, strangled, beaten so badly that half his face caved in, and left unconscious in a pool of blood.
Lanham, 28, died on his way to the hospital. The man accused of attacking him, his cellmate, Tyjuan Chapple, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in June.
“The cause of death was blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. Almost every officer and staff at ECI testified at [Chapple’s] trial that this was the most horrific incident they had seen while working at ECI,” the Somerset County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement at the time.
Learning the fate of his son — a Baltimore County 28-year-old serving time on charges related to domestic violence — has been only part of the agony for Lanham’s father, Shane Lanham, Sr., of Belcamp. The Baltimore County firefighter said Shane Jr., who had described himself to family as living in fear of gangs that were harassing and threatening him, had pleaded with prison officials to place him in protective custody weeks before the incident.
Read the full story on the Baltimore Sun.
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