Correctional officers who opened fire on a convicted murderer during an attempted escape earlier this month from an Arkansas prison were justified in using deadly force, a prosecutor ruled Tuesday.
In a letter to Arkansas State Police dated Tuesday, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter said he reviewed the police case file and found that officers acted within the law in fatally shooting 41-year-old Christopher Wilson on April 7.
According to Hunter's letter, Wilson "fell in line" with a hoe squad heading to work in a field near the Arkansas Department of Correction's Varner Unit in Grady. Wilson ran, ignoring commands to stop and making it outside the prison fence, the letter said.
Officers then began opening fire, though the first three shots missed. Wilson was continuing to run away from the prison when one officer "fired another shot that struck wilson in the back causing his death," Hunter wrote.
Hunter noted that Arkansas law allows deadly force if it is "necessary to prevent the escape from custody of an arrested person who has committed a felony and is presently armed or dangerous."
Wilson was serving a double sentence of life without parole for the 2002 murders of 26-year-old Pamela Kay Reed and her 8-month-old son, Lucas, the night of Dec. 27, 2002, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.