BENTON COUNTY INMATE INDICTED IN OVERDOSE DEATH OF FELLOW INMATE
BENTON COUNTY INMATE INDICTED IN OVERDOSE DEATH OF FELLOW INMATE
CAMDEN – A Benton County inmate has been indicted and charged in connection with the in-custody death of a fellow inmate earlier this year.
On May 24th, at the request of former 24th Judicial District Attorney General Matt Stowe, TBI special agents began investigating the in-custody death of Christopher S. Ellis (DOB: 1/21/78) at the Benton County Jail. An autopsy determined Ellis’s death was due to a drug overdose. During the course of the investigation, agents determined Jason K. Johnson (DOB: 2/12/75) was the person responsible for supplying the drugs to Ellis while in the Benton County Jail.
Today, in coordination with current 24th Judicial District Attorney General Neil Thompson, agents presented the case to the Benton County Grand Jury, who returned indictments charging Johnson with Second Degree Murder and Introduction of Contraband into a Penal Facility. Johnson, who remains incarcerated in Benton County on unrelated charges, was served arrest warrants on the indicted charges. His bond on these counts is set at $500,000.
