Federal inmate charged in fatal stabbing of fellow prisoner at Terre Haute

The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
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May 10—A federal prison inmate at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute faces charges including manslaughter as a result of an April 2023 stabbing, the government said Friday.

Prosecutors said a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Otha Don Watkins III, 42, of Cairo, Illinois, with involuntary manslaughter and possessing contraband in prison. If convicted, Watkins faces up to eight additional years in federal prison.

On April 14, 2023, Watkins stabbed fellow inmate Carlos Shelton with an improvised knife during a fight, the government said in a news release. Shelton ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

Watkins created the weapon with a piece of metal sharpened to a point at one end and wrapped in white cloth on the other, prosecutors said. He remains remains in federal custody.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jayson W. McGrath, is prosecuting. The FBI and the Special Investigation Services branch of the Bureau of Prisons investigated.