Hancock State Prison inmate dies from beating in cell
Published 11:02 pm Sunday, January 25, 2026
SPARTA, Ga. — A 55-year-old inmate at Hancock State Prison died Sunday afternoon after he was reportedly beaten in his cell Saturday night, The Union-Recorder has learned.
Hancock County Coroner Dontrell Andrews identified the victim as Stephen Monroe Wood.
Wood, who was originally from Brookhaven in Henry County, was reportedly attacked by his cellmate Saturday night, Andrews told the newspaper in a telephone interview Sunday night.
Wood was discovered in need of medical treatment in his cell shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday.
After the physical attack, personnel with Hancock County Emergency Medical Services were called to the prison to take the severely injured inmate to a nearby hospital.
Wood was taken by ambulance to the emergency department of Washington County Regional Medical Center in Sandersville. Wood was later transferred to Wellstar MCG Health and Medical Center in Augusta where he died Sunday at 1:29 p.m., Andrews said.
The coroner said the case was being investigated as a homicide.
An autopsy to determine the exact cause and manner of his death is scheduled for sometime this week at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in Decatur.
Andrews said after the attack that he received a telephone call from an investigator with the Georgia Department of Corrections informing him that due to the injuries Wood had received, it did not appear that he would likely not survive.
“He was placed on a ventilator after they got him to the hospital in Augusta,” Andrews said.
The investigation into the inmate’s death was continuing Sunday night by the Georgia Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards, which investigates crimes in state prisons across the state.
Wood was serving a life sentence for murder, aggravated battery, armed robbery and Violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act for possession of cocaine.
The prison, which is located only a short distance from Sparta, was already on a statewide lockdown at the time of the latest attack that turned deadly.