Death row inmate Latavious Johnson dies at 43
Latavious Johnson, a death row inmate who killed his father and a prison guard, has died at the age of 43.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Latavious Johnson, a 43-year-old death row inmate, died on Friday, June 6, according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Johnson was previously serving a life sentence for the 2000 murder of his father Johnnie Johnson. He lived with his mother until 1996 when she died from AIDS and would move in with his father.
Court documents say his father was a heavy drinker, used drugs, brought home prostitutes, and was physically abusive. That led Johnson to go to a residential facility for troubled youth from 1997 to May 1999. But the facility lacked funding and Johnson returned home and he stopped receiving mental health treatment.
Then in 2000, Johnson fatally shot his father during an altercation. He pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
While in prison, Johnson would received the death sentence after stabbing correctional officer Barbara Ester in January 2012.
Ester reportedly approached Johnson about wearing contraband shoes, which he denied. She would return with another officer and when they attempted to confiscate the shoes, Ester was fatally stabbed three times.
Johnson died around 3:30 p.m. at the Varner SuperMax and officials did not provide a cause of death.