That Poor Convicted Felon Has a Long Road Ahead of Him @23..........................................
Inmate accused of killing prison guard complains that he's being abused
A state prison inmate accused of killing a corrections officer in Somerset County last year is now claiming that corrections officers at SCI-Huntingdon have beaten him and put human waste in his food, his attorney said.
Paul Jawon Kendrick, 23, is charged with murdering Sgt. Mark J. Baserman at SCI-Somerset in February.
Kendrick detailed the alleged abuse in a letter to his mother, Nancy Fanelli, of Pittsburgh, claiming that human waste was placed in his food.
“He’s convinced of that,” said Somerset County public defender Michael Kuhn, who is representing Kendrick.
“I recommended that she hire a civil rights attorney.”
Fanelli faxed a copy of Kendrick’s letter to The Tribune-Democrat on Sunday.
“One minute the c/o’s is (sic) putting (feces) in my food and the next there (sic) coming in my cell five deep and kicking me,” the letter reads.
“Every day they threaten my life and every day I fear that one day there (sic) going to act out out on them (sic) threats.”
The state Department of Corrections is investigating the allegations.
“The DOC and its facilities take all allegations of inmate abuse seriously and investigate them,” said Susan McNaughton, director of communications.
“If the investigation demonstrates that the allegations are substantiated, any employees found to be responsible for the wrongdoing would be referred for appropriate discipline up to and including termination.”
Kendrick is charged with murder, criminal homicide, aggravated assault, assault by a life prisoner and simple assault in connection with Baserman’s death.
Baserman, 60, was sitting at a desk in a housing unit’s day room on Feb. 15 when Kendrick allegedly approached him and struck him in the face, knocking him to the floor, according to the Department of Corrections.
State police in Somerset alleged that Kendrick, who is serving a life sentence for a 2014 Pittsburgh murder, then punched Baserman eight to 10 times in the head and kicked him in the head. Baserman died of blunt-force trauma less than two weeks later at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown.
Somerset County District Attorney Lisa Lazzari-Strasiser has announced that she will seek the death penalty against Kendrick.
The alleged assault on Baserman was one of several reported violent incidents at SCI-Somerset in 2018.
One inmate, William Amos Cramer, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, was charged with attempting to slash a corrections officer with a razor after he was taken to Somerset Hospital for medical treatment.
Inmate Dale Wakefield has been charged with killing his cellmate, Joshua Perry, in January 2018.
Another inmate, Canie Griffith, 30, was sentenced an additional 35 months to 10 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a corrections officer with a padlock in May.
Patrick Buchnowski is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 532-5061. Follow him on Twitte
