Crime & Safety
Inmate Dies 4 Days After Fight At McNeil Island Facility
Jerry Spicer, 63, died Sunday from injuries he sustained when he was shoved by 39-year-old Gregory Coley, Jr. Jan. 2.
MCNEIL ISLAND, WA - A sexually violent predator who was injured during an altercation with another inmate at the Washington State Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island died Sunday following a four-day stay at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The inmate who allegedly caused the fatal injuries is now being held at Pierce County Jail for second-degree murder.
According to court documents obtained by Patch, Jerry Spicer, 63, was working alongside Gregory Eugene Coley, Jr., 39, in the SCC dining hall when around 5:15 p.m. Jan. 2 the men began to exchange words. The verbal exchange reportedly led to a brief altercation that ended with Spicer on the ground bleeding and Coley under arrest.
The entire incident was reportedly captured on the facility's surveillance cameras.
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In the video, Coley first physically confronts Spicer by approaching and aggressively bumping him with his chest. Coley's "chest bump," as it is described in a probable cause affidavit, was immediately followed by a "forceful two-handed shove" to Spicer's upper torso.
The shove sent Spicer tumbling backward, falling and striking his head hard on the tile floor. Immediately after the fall Spicer is motionless on the floor for a short time before he can be seen moving again on his own, the affidavit states, noting SCC staff and other inmates attempted to help by staunching the flow of blood from Spicer's head.
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Emergency responders transported Spicer to JBLM with what MAMC staff later identified as "bilateral subdural hematomas." Placed on life support, Spicer was not expected to survive his injuries.
On Jan. 3, Coley was taken to Pierce County Jail and Washington State Patrol began investigating.
Spicer was pronounced dead Jan. 6.
Spicer had been at the McNeil Island facility since 2005. Coley was sent there in 2002. Both men were considered sexually violent predators.
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AP Photo via Ted S. Warren
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