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Texas inmate convicted in death of CO

A jury deliberated for less than three hours before reaching a guilty verdict in the death of female correctional officer Mari Johnson

Mari Johnson.jpg

Johnson’s body was found in July 2016 in a storage room at the Robertson prison unit in Abilene.

File photo

ANSON, Texas — A Texas inmate has been convicted of capital murder in the slaying of a female corrections officer.

KTXS-TV reports that a Jones County jury deliberated less than three hours Monday before finding 24-year-old Dillion Compton guilty in the death of Mari Johnson. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty when the penalty phase of his trial begins Tuesday morning.

Johnson’s body was found in July 2016 in a storage room at the Robertson prison unit in Abilene.

Prosecutors say she suffered blunt force trauma and a crushed throat. Defense attorneys say Compton had a sexual relationship with Johnson, that she died of cardiac arrest and that her injuries resulted from an “aggressive” form of CPR Compton attempted.

Compton was sentenced in 2011 for aggravated sexual assault of a child.

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