Cellmate Held In Murder At Mercer County Corrections Center

An inmate at the Mercer County Corrections Center is charged with murdering his cellmate, his second violent incident in as many days.

Lamar Gaines, 19, was standing outside a cell where the body of Darryl Boone was found early Saturday morning at the Hopewell facility. Gaines is being held on $1 million bail.

The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office says Gaines likely choked and suffocated Boone after physically assaulting him.

Gaines was jailed for a February, 2012 robbery and carjacking and has been involved in an assault in the correction center's gym just a day before that left another inmate hospitalized. He was charged with attempted murder in that case.

Boone was being held at the correction center in lieu of bail on a recent vehicular homicide charge.  Boone’s cause of death is pending autopsy.

According to the county website the facility holds 880 male and female inmates with minimum, medium and maximum-security classifications.