IONIA, Mich. (WOOD) — The Ionia County prosecutor says an inmate will not face charges for the fight that led to the death of another inmate from Muskegon.
Ionia County Prosecutor Kyle Butler released his decision Friday. In it, he says the prisoner “acted in lawful self-defense” when he was attacked by fellow prisoner Dustin Szot at Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility on Sept 27. Butler said another prisoner’s account of the incident and surveillance recordings supported his findings.
Butler said the other prisoner defended himself by hitting Szot, 24, on the right side of his head, ear and neck about five times as they were both lying on the ground. Butler said Szot died from “what can only be characterized as a freak and unusual result of these rather unremarkable punches.”
The prosecutor said the surveillance video recording appears to show Szot jump on the other prisoner’s back, causing them to fall over. They were wrestling on the ground for less than 15 seconds when the corrections officers ran up and tried to stop the fight, the prosecutor said. According to his review, the officers told the prisoners to stop fighting, to no avail. They then deployed stun guns on both inmates, but it didn’t appear to have an effect on either man, the prosecutor said.
After the prisoner hit Szot, an officer both men were separated and secured, according to the prosecutor. Two officers recognized Szot was having a medical emergency, as he appeared to be unconscious with labored breathing, the prosecutor said. Szot was taken to the prison clinic, but died less than 45 minutes after the fight began, according to the prosecutor’s report.
Butler said an autopsy revealed Szot died from a subarachnoid hemorrhage due to right vertebral artery laceration, meaning blood from a tear in an artery along his neck filled the space between his brain and the tissues that cover it.
The prosecutor said the autopsy also found Szot had a blood alcohol level of 0.173 at the time of his death. He said authorities found a sharpened piece of plastic in Szot’s waistband.