Maryland State Police homicide investigators are continuing to investigate the murder of a state prison inmate that occurred last night in a facility on the Eastern Shore.
The deceased inmate is identified as Tozzie Carter, 37, who was an inmate at the Eastern Correctional Institution in Westover, Md. Carter was pronounced dead at the Peninsula Regional Medical Center at about 10:30 p.m. yesterday.
Carter’s body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy. The autopsy conducted today determined the cause of death was homicide and the manner of death was a stab wound to the chest.
A second inmate, Dawntay Tobin, 32, was also found to have injuries on his hand, shoulder and back. He was treated at the Peninsula Regional Medical Center and released back to the custody of ECI officials.
The preliminary investigation indicates Carter and Tobin were involved in a fight with fellow inmates on an upper level of a housing unit at the prison, shortly after 9 p.m. yesterday. A responding correctional officer disrupted the fight and found the two injured inmates.
Maryland State Police crime scene technicians responded to the prison last night and processed the scene. State Police homicide investigators, assisted by criminal investigators from the Salisbury and Princess Anne barracks, began interviewing dozens of inmates, as well as prison staff last night. Those interviews are ongoing today. Assistance is also being provided by the Internal Investigative Unit of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
The investigation is continuing.