August 07, 2024
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Dwight Williams, 42, an inmate at SCI Phoenix, above, is charged with first- and third-degree murder for allegedly beating to death inmate Ashokkumar Guru, 67.
An inmate at the SCI Phoenix correctional facility in Montgomery County has been charged with murder for allegedly killing another inmate.
Dwight Williams, 42, is accused of beating to death Ashokkumar Guru, 67, on Sunday morning. Correctional officers found Guru unresponsive in his cell at 9:31 a.m., prosecutors said. There was blood on his face and also on a nearby box. Prison workers performed CPR on Guru, but he was pronounced dead at 10:24 a.m.
Video surveillance shows that Williams entered Guru's cell at 9:16 a.m., exited at 9:25 a.m. and returned to his cell at 9:29 a.m., investigators said. The footage allegedly shows Williams with a red substance on the bottom of his sneaker.
Investigators said Williams also had a brown paper bag containing a white Fila sneaker and attempted to get another inmate to discard it, but the cellblock had been locked down.
Another inmate witnessed the attack on Guru, prosecutors said. Police have not disclosed any possible motives for the killing.
Guru died of blunt impact injuries, according to a forensic pathologist who ruled the death a homicide. Williams has been charged with first- and third-degree murder. He will remain in SCI Phoenix while awaiting his arraignment.
A similar but unrelated killing in Montgomery County occurred on July 14, when a patient at the Norristown State Hospital psychiatric facility was accused of killing his roommate in a dispute.
