A prisoner at Correction Corporation of America’s Davidson County Detention Facility is being charged with murder for the overnight fatal beating of his cellmate.
Between 2:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., staff at the Harding Place prison went to investigate loud banging noises coming from the cell Ronnie Sullivan shared with Gerald Townsend. Sullivan reported that Townsend had fallen after suffering a seizure. Sullivan was removed from the cell and Townsend was examined by a nurse. He complained of being in severe pain and said that Sullivan had assaulted him. CCA staff called for an ambulance at 3:17 a.m. Townsend was transported to General Hospital. He was diagnosed as having internal bleeding and was transferred to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he died at 6:10 a.m. CCA staff requested that police respond to the facility at 7:03 a.m.
An autopsy shows that Townsend died of internal injuries. Sullivan refused to be interviewed. An arrest warrant charging Sullivan with criminal homicide has been issued.
Townsend, 36, was serving a six-year sentence for vehicle theft and burglary. Sullivan, 22, is serving a 30-month sentence for aggravated assault.
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