Toledo man dies after he's stabbed in prison

8/12/2004

A Toledo man died yesterday after being stabbed Tuesday at a state prison in Marion, Ohio, the Ohio Highway Patrol reported.

Ernest Hall, 21, who was an inmate at the North Central Correctional Institution because of a robbery conviction in Lucas County, was stabbed in the chest with an 8-inch, homemade shank, Lt. Rick Zwayer reported. He died just before 1 p.m. at the Ohio State University Medical Center.

Investigators are unsure of the circumstances that led to the attack by another inmate, Lieutenant Zwayer said.

Larry Dillard, Hall's uncle, said the family learned of the stabbing from another inmate at the facility, who is the boyfriend of Hall's aunt.

Mr. Dillard said that another inmate suspected Hall of stealing his personal belongings and told a guard he was going to kill him.

Hall was sentenced to four years in prison last September after forcefully removing $16 from a 10-year-old boy's pants pocket, according to court records.

Hall, who lived on Spencer Street, attacked the boy at the corner of Spencer and Colton streets.

In 2001, Hall pleaded guilty to attempted grand theft auto and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.