Ferrell Cothran News Today

Five men appeared in the Lee County Courthouse. Jeffrey Samuels and Danielle Peay pled guilty to their roles in the riots. Three other inmates discussed their cases.

Michael Smith and his fellow Bloods gang members “looked like a bunch of sharks attacking poor Mr. McClary,” lead prosecutor Barney Giese told a Lee County jury on Friday morning.

Micheal Juan Smith is on trial for stabbing a fellow inmate to death in the deadly 2018 Lee County prison riot.

The prosecution says the April 2018 riot started over a rivalry between members of three different gangs at Lee Correctional Institution. Seven inmates were killed.

The panel of men and women took about two hours Friday to return a verdict against Daunte Johnson, charged with killing Neveah Adams and Sharee Bradley.