Inmate convicted of capital murder in prison guard’s death

ANSON, Texas – A Texas inmate has been convicted of capital murder in the slaying of a female prison guard.

KTXS-TV reports that a Jones County jury deliberated less than three hours Monday before finding 24-year-old Dillion Compton guilty in the death of Mari Johnson. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty when the penalty phase of his trial begins Tuesday morning.

Johnson’s body was found in July 2016 in a storage room at the Robertson prison unit in Abilene.

Prosecutors say she suffered blunt force trauma and a crushed throat. Defence attorneys say Compton had a sexual relationship with Johnson, that she died of cardiac arrest and that her injuries resulted from an “aggressive” form of CPR Compton attempted.

Compton was sentenced in 2011 for aggravated sexual assault of a child.

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Information from: KTXS-TV, http://www.ktxs.com