AURORA | An Arapahoe County Jail inmate is dead after being assaulted by another inmate — jailed after an arrest in Aurora — according to the sheriff’s office.
Eric Stewart, 43, is accused of killing Michael Roy Craven, 43, last Friday afternoon in a housing unit at the jail in Centennial.
The slaying in the jail is the first since the facility opened in 1987 and is possibly the first homicide ever in the Arapahoe County Jail, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Julie Brooks. Investigators are researching whether there were any slaying in previous county detention facilities, she said.
In a statement over the weekend, Brooks said the assault started around 2:50 p.m. Friday in an upper-tier and quickly spilled onto a walkway. The assault lasted about 45 seconds before jailers and medical staff arrived.
Craven was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead Saturday morning, Brooks said.
Investigators don’t believe a weapon was used in the assault, she said.
Both men had been housed in the same housing unit since December 2014 and had no known previous issues, Brooks said.
Craven was arrested in Englewood in August 2014 on several charges, including second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree criminal trespass, stalking, extortion and criminal mischief. He also had a habitual criminal sentencing enhancement.
Stewart was arrested in Aurora in December 2014 and was awaiting trial on several charges including criminal attempted first-degree murder, menacing, third-degree assault and possession of a weapon by a previous offender.
Brooks said she couldn’t say whether Stewart was moved to a different housing unit following the attack, citing jail rules about security of inmates.