Two sheriff’s deputies were charged with second-degree murder in the death of an inmate during a struggle over a mop handle, authorities said.
Ronald Eugene Parker, 43, and Brandon Gray Huie, 25, were charged Tuesday and released on $25,000 bond. If convicted, they could face sentences between almost eight years to 40 years in jail.
Carlos Claros-Castro, a 28-year-old Honduran immigrant, was arrested Jan. 6 on charges of several driving offenses, including driving while impaired and leaving the scene of an accident.
The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office has said that the next day, Claros-Castro was threatening people with a fiberglass mop handle, so deputies went to his cell to disarm him. Claros-Castro died during a fight over the mop handle, and two autopsies declared his death a homicide.
The autopsies found that Claros-Castro died from injuries including asphyxiation and blunt trauma to the head.
“The inmate was clearly having some kind of emotional break,” said Walter Jones, Parker’s attorney. “In an effort to subdue him, the jailers had to go into his cell. He had a great deal of aggression and they (jailers) had a hard time getting him under control. They responded with the appropriate action.”
Huie’s attorney left the courtroom with commenting.
Sheriff David Grice said that the two men no longer work for the department.