TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction and death sentence of an inmate who strangled and fatally beat his cellmate at Columbia Correctional Institution in 2018. Craft represented himself at trial and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, with Columbia County Circuit Judge Paul Bryan subsequently sentencing him to death. The Supreme Court weighed issues such as whether the judge properly considered what are known as “mitigating” and “aggravating” factors before imposing the death sentence. Also, the court delved into Craft’s decision to plead guilty to the murder while representing himself. “Our review of the record confirms that Craft’s guilty plea to first-degree murder was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary, and the factual basis for Craft’s plea provides competent, substantial evidence to support his conviction for first-degree murder,” the 26-page ruling said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – An additional 10 Florida prison inmates have died of COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 180, according to information released Wednesday by the Florida Department of Corrections and the Florida Department of Health. Also, two workers at the Reception and Medical Center have died of the virus. Other facilities tied to the largest numbers of inmate deaths since the start of the pandemic are the South Florida Reception Center, with 21; Union Correctional Institution, with 13; Columbia Correctional Institution, with 10; Dade Correctional Institution, with 10; Blackwater Correctional Facility, with seven; Everglades Correctional Institution, with six; Graceville Correctional Facility, with six; Okeechobee Correctional Institution, with six; South Bay Correctional Facility, with six; and Suwannee Correctional Institution, with six. Since the pandemic began, 16,631 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, according to numbers posted by the Department of Corrections. Also, 3,508 corrections workers have tested positive and four have died.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of Florida prison inmates who have died of COVID-19 has hit 170, as the state added nine deaths in a week, according to the Florida Department of Corrections and the Florida Department of Health. Three of the additional deaths were at the Reception and Medical Center in Union County, bringing the total for that facility to 34, Department of Health numbers show. Also, two workers at the Reception and Medical Center have died of the virus. Other facilities tied to the largest numbers of inmate deaths since the start of the pandemic are the South Florida Reception Center, with 20; Union Correctional Institution, with 13; Columbia Correctional Institution, with 10; Dade Correctional Institution, with 10; Blackwater Correctional Facility, with seven; Everglades Correctional Institution, with six; Graceville Correctional Facility, with six; Okeechobee Correctional Institution, with six; South Bay Correctional Facility, with six; and Suwannee Correctional Institution, with six. Since the pandemic began, 16,624 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, according to numbers posted Thursday by the state Department of Corrections.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The COVID-19 inmate death toll in Florida’s prison system has reached 117, with three prisons having at least 10 deaths, according to new state numbers. The 117 inmate deaths were up from 114 in a Wednesday count, the Florida Department of Corrections reported Thursday. Also, the Florida Department of Health has released numbers showing 17 deaths of inmates at South Florida Reception Center, 10 deaths of inmates at Dade Correctional Institution and 10 deaths of inmates at the Reception and Medical Center. Other prisons with large numbers of inmate deaths included Columbia Correctional Institution, with eight; Blackwater Correctional Facility, with seven; Suwannee Correctional Institution, with seven; Everglades Correctional Institution, with six; Graceville Correctional Facility, with six; and South Bay Correctional Facility, with six. In all, 15,744 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Department of Corrections.

Since Monday, an additional 35 inmates and 42 workers have tested positive for the virus. As the virus continues to spread throughout the state prison system, the number of inmates who have tested positive for the highly contagious virus has skyrocketed. Lowell Correctional Institution, a womens prison in Ocala, reached 1,000 cases on Tuesday. Columbia Correctional Institution, a prison in Lake City with 1,338 inmate cases, is the only other prison in the state with more than 1,000 inmate cases. For example, Mayo Annex has 949 cases, Suwannee Correctional Institution has 811 cases, and Century Correctional Institution has 766 cases.

News4Jax has learned that Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter and five deputies are awaiting the results of COVID-19 tests after the departments Public Affairs Officer Murray Smith contracted the virus. Columbia County has seen a total of 2,784 cases and 14 deaths as of Friday, according to the Florida Department Health. Officials say a large percentage of those are attributed to Columbia Correctional Institution in Lake City, where more than 1,300 inmates and 72 staff have tested positive for COVID-19. Four inmates there have died of the disease. Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Mark Inch and one of his top staff, Deputy Secretary Ricky Dixon, tested positive for COVID-19 last week after visiting Columbia Correctional and attending a Florida Sheriffs Association conference where three other attendees also later tested positive for the virus.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. With a major increase in infections reported Friday, nearly 11,000 state prison inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 and 63 have died, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. An additional 1,154 inmates had tested positive in numbers released Friday, bringing the overall total to 10,975. Also, the number of inmates who had died from the virus increased from 60 on Thursday to 63 on Friday. Prisons hit hardest by the virus are Columbia Correctional Institution, which has had 1,317 inmate cases; Lowell Correctional Institution, which has had 909; Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, which has had 793; Graceville Correctional Facility, which has had 656; and Taylor Correctional Institution, which has had 561, according to the department. Also, 1,946 corrections workers had tested positive as of mid-day Friday, up from 1,911 on Thursday.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Another 361 state prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19, with the inmate death toll reaching 60, according to information released Thursday by the Florida Department of Corrections. As of midday Thursday, 9,821 inmates had tested positive, up from 9,460 on Wednesday. Five prisons have had more than 500 inmate cases: Columbia Correctional Institution, Graceville Correctional Facility, Lowell Correctional Institution, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution and Taylor Correctional Institution. Of those facilities, Taylor Correctional had the largest increase Thursday, going from 453 cases to 501 cases. Also Thursday, the department reported that 1,911 corrections workers have tested positive.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The Florida Department of Health on Wednesday said a dozen inmates died from complications of COVID-19 at eight prisons within the past week. Dade Correctional Institution, Everglades Correctional Institution, Lowell Correctional Institution and South Florida Reception Center each had two inmates die after testing positive for the disease. Columbia Correctional Institution, Florida Womens Reception Center, Graceville Correctional Institution and Wakulla Correctional Institution each had an inmate death. Santa Rosa Correctional Institution and Lowell Correctional Institution saw their caseloads increase by more than 100 overnight. Santa Rosa had 700 inmate cases and Lowell had 629 inmate cases as of Wednesday.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The number of state prison inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 continued to soar Tuesday, with the total reaching 6,946, according to numbers released by the Florida Department of Corrections. The total was an increase from 6,217 inmates who had tested positive Monday. The prison with the most cases was Columbia Correctional Institution, where 1,216 inmates had tested positive. Meanwhile, 608 inmates had tested positive at Graceville Correctional Facility, 524 had tested positive at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution and 444 had tested positive at Lowell Correctional Institution, according to the department. The number of infected correctional workers also increased from 1,417 on Monday to 1,486 on Tuesday.

Among those who had received results, about 64 percent had tested positive, Department of Corrections numbers show. Columbia has by far the most COVID-19 cases in the state prison system, but outbreaks also have occurred at other facilities. Columbia is among 15 prisons where corrections and health officials have offered tests to all inmates and staff members. Staff members --- who include corrections workers, nurses, food service workers, administrative staff and other prison personnel --- are not required to get tested. As of Thursday, 43 staff members at Columbia had tested positive for the virus.

As of Wednesday, 5,361 state inmates and corrections workers had tested positive for COVID-19, a deadly respiratory disease that has shown itself to be efficient at moving rapidly through prisons and jails. The surge of cases in Floridas prison system has come as the state has morphed into a global hotspot for the virus. As more inmates and workers test positive, prisoners and criminal-justice reform advocates are pleading with Republican Gov. William Forrester, a Bay Correctional Facility inmate with a single lung, tested positive for COVID-19 after the Department of Corrections denied his request to be furloughed to home confinement. He is one of 240 inmates who have tested positive at the Panhandle facility, which is operated by The Geo Group, a private contractor.

In total, the state has logged 3,687 inmate cases and 1,077 employee cases. Over the past four weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases in the corrections system has more than doubled to 4,764 cases. While several prisons are experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, 17 facilities in various parts of the state have recorded at least 100 inmate cases. Columbia Correctional Institution, a prison in rural North Florida, has reported 455 inmate cases, while Homestead Correctional Institution in Miami-Dade County has totaled 302 inmate cases. Five prisons -- Bay Correctional Facility, Hamilton Correctional Institution, Liberty Correctional Institution, Polk Correctional Institution and South Bay Correctional Facility -- have logged at least 200 inmate cases.

On Sunday, 30 inmates at Columbia Correctional Institution had tested positive for the deadly respiratory disease, according to a Florida Department of Corrections report. By Saturday, corrections and health officials had tested 735 inmates at Columbia, with 87 percent of test results pending. The prisons include Homestead Correctional Institution, with 302 cases; South Bay Correctional Facility, with 225 cases; Liberty Correctional Institution, with 215 cases, and Hamilton Correctional Institution, with 204 cases. In response to infection surges among workers, corrections officials have launched emergency plans at two prisons -- Dade Correctional Institution and Jefferson Correctional Institution -- to address significant staffing shortages due to COVID-19. Since the emergency plans went into effect, a few more workers have tested positive at Dade and Jefferson.

A suspected drug overdose leaves two inmates dead at the Columbia Correctional Institution. Another inmate and multiple prison staff were also hospitalized after the incident yesterday. Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.

LAKE CITY, Fla. - Two inmates died and a third was in stable condition at a hospital Saturday after a suspected drug overdose at the Columbia Correctional Institution, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating with the assistance of the department's Office of Inspector General. "At this time our focus is on the health and swift recovery of the officers and individuals involved. The facility has been placed on lockdown, while we provide FDLE with everything they need to investigate this incident," Michelle Glady, director of communicators for the Florida Department of Corrections, said. Visitation at the Columbia Correctional Institution was canceled on Sunday.