USP Lee prisoner charged with cellmate’s murder files request for release

Attorneys for a Lee County federal prisoner accused of killing his cellmate four years ago are requesting his release to a guardian.

Eric Horne continues to undergo mental health treatments to restore him to competency for his first-degree murder trial but his attorneys argue that prison officials have not provided a timeline for his care.

Horne was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2018 for the strangulation death of his cellmate Jarrod Ty Foxworthy, 30, and was later ruled incompetent. He is currently housed at a Bureau of Prisons medical ward in North Carolina.

Foxworthy’s family filed a civil suit against several USP Lee correctional officers last year accusing the guards of not protecting him from Horne. Judge James Jones rendered a decision dismissing the suit last year.

(IMAGE: US District Court, Big Stone Gap / GM)