rest in peace lord morvayne.
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A 21-year-old inmate serving a a life sentence for stabbing his 9-year-old cousin to death in 2005 hanged himself in his cell in an apparent suicide Friday, officials said.
Christopher Wallace had been imprisoned since Nov. 30, 2005, the day after he killed Daniel Schlor. The murder occurred at the Schlor family home, where Wallace was visiting from Florida.
A judge found Wallace guilty but mentally ill in the face of first-degree murder and weapons charges. Though first held at the Delaware Psychiatric Center, he was later sent to Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna after he was no longer deemed a danger to himself or others.
But it appears he took his own life Friday, as a prison spokesman said no foul play was suspected. Wallace was found in his cell and taken to Kent General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:26 a.m., spokeswoman Kate Bailey said. His body was turned over to the state medical examiner's office, she said.
Bailey did not say whether special precautions were being taken with the inmate, who had a history of mental issues.
Wallace was 15 when he stabbed his cousin in his back, head, and near his ear and a kidney. Daniel's wounds included a 312-inch cut under his Adam's apple and strangulation marks.
Alcohol was found in Daniel's system, but a state medical examiner testified that the boy might have been forced to drink. Wallace said he killed the boy because Daniel called him "stupid" and "gay." He fled after the killing and was caught that day at a nearby gas station.
Told about Wallace's death, Tom Strusowski, Daniel's uncle and godfather, said justice had been served. "He got what he deserved. I guess it was a little too much for him,'' Strusowski said. "It wore on me that he was going to be a ward of the state, that we'd have to support him for the hideous act.''
Wallace's defense persuaded Superior Court Judge Joseph R. Slights III that mental illness contributed to Wallace's lethal act.
A psychiatrist for the defense said Wallace suffered from schizophrenic paranoia at the time of the killing.
According to trial testimony, while awaiting trial in a youth detention center, Wallace said he sometimes heard sounds others did not and saw himself as the evil "Sauron" from The Lord of the Rings novels.
State prosecutors countered that Wallace faked the symptoms and played a recording of a prison phone conversation between Wallace and his father, during which the boy called himself "Master of Chaos," and the two strategized about his defense. In the recording, the teen said, "I think the insanity thing is looking good. Like I have this whole thing planned."
A 21-year-old inmate serving a a life sentence for stabbing his 9-year-old cousin to death in 2005 hanged himself in his cell in an apparent suicide Friday, officials said.
Christopher Wallace had been imprisoned since Nov. 30, 2005, the day after he killed Daniel Schlor. The murder occurred at the Schlor family home, where Wallace was visiting from Florida.
A judge found Wallace guilty but mentally ill in the face of first-degree murder and weapons charges. Though first held at the Delaware Psychiatric Center, he was later sent to Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna after he was no longer deemed a danger to himself or others.
But it appears he took his own life Friday, as a prison spokesman said no foul play was suspected. Wallace was found in his cell and taken to Kent General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:26 a.m., spokeswoman Kate Bailey said. His body was turned over to the state medical examiner's office, she said.
Bailey did not say whether special precautions were being taken with the inmate, who had a history of mental issues.
Wallace was 15 when he stabbed his cousin in his back, head, and near his ear and a kidney. Daniel's wounds included a 312-inch cut under his Adam's apple and strangulation marks.
Alcohol was found in Daniel's system, but a state medical examiner testified that the boy might have been forced to drink. Wallace said he killed the boy because Daniel called him "stupid" and "gay." He fled after the killing and was caught that day at a nearby gas station.
Told about Wallace's death, Tom Strusowski, Daniel's uncle and godfather, said justice had been served. "He got what he deserved. I guess it was a little too much for him,'' Strusowski said. "It wore on me that he was going to be a ward of the state, that we'd have to support him for the hideous act.''
Wallace's defense persuaded Superior Court Judge Joseph R. Slights III that mental illness contributed to Wallace's lethal act.
A psychiatrist for the defense said Wallace suffered from schizophrenic paranoia at the time of the killing.
According to trial testimony, while awaiting trial in a youth detention center, Wallace said he sometimes heard sounds others did not and saw himself as the evil "Sauron" from The Lord of the Rings novels.
State prosecutors countered that Wallace faked the symptoms and played a recording of a prison phone conversation between Wallace and his father, during which the boy called himself "Master of Chaos," and the two strategized about his defense. In the recording, the teen said, "I think the insanity thing is looking good. Like I have this whole thing planned."