Inmate Commits Suicide

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- A prison official says an inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary has killed himself using a razor blade. Acting warden's assistant Margaret Sexton says 21-year-old Lorenzo

Saturday, October 27th 2007, 9:02 pm

By: News On 6

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) -- A prison official says an inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary has killed himself using a razor blade. Acting warden's assistant Margaret Sexton says 21-year-old Lorenzo Crawford Brown died Friday in his cell.

Brown is the second inmate at the prison to kill himself this month. Forty-nine-year-old Pedro Castillo was found hanged in his cell on October 16th.

Sexton says prison officers were making counts at about 2:30 p.m. Friday when one officer noticed Brown had a razor blade, which the prisoner had obtained by breaking apart a disposable razor.

Sexton says Brown was ordered to put down the blade, but instead, Brown inflicted injuries to his neck.

When backup arrived, the cell door was opened, but Sexton says the wound was so serious it didn't take long for Brown to die.

Brown was being held on three first-degree murder convictions. He pleaded guilty to killing 43-year-old Karen Chappel and her sons, 17-year-old Whitney Chappel, and 14-year-old Kalin Chappel at their Tulsa home in July 2003.