A 41-year-old inmate at the Varner Unit in Grady was shot and killed Thursday while attempting to escape, according to a spokesman with the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Spokesman Solomon Graves identified the inmate as Christopher Wilson of Saltillo. Wilson had been at the prison since 2003 after receiving a life sentence without parole for pleading guilty to two counts of capital murder, records show.
Wilson entered the plea to avoid the death penalty in the December 2002 beating deaths of a woman and her 8-month-old son, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Sept. 3, 2003.
The husband of Pamela Kay Reed, 26, found his wife's body in the driveway of their Saltillo home on Arkansas 286, according to the newspaper. The son, Lucas Aaron Reed, was found bludgeoned to death inside the residence.
Correction department officials as well as Arkansas State Police are investigating. Graves said that details at this point in the investigation are limited.
Check back with ArkansasOnline for updates on this developing story and read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.