CLEARFIELD – A former inmate of the state correctional institute at Houtzdale pleaded guilty to assaulting his cellmate during sentencing court Monday.
Torr Thomas Gray, 30, was sentenced to one to three years in state prison for felony assault by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman, according to a court employee.
The criminal complaint states that on April 19, while a corrections officer was making his rounds, he saw Gray at his cell door. He told the CO: “I beat him the (expletive) up.”
The cellmate, who had a bloody face, was sitting on the floor, against the wall, the CO said.
Medical personnel were called to the scene while Gray was told to come to the secure feeding apparatus to be handcuffed. He refused and kept gathering his property from the cell.
At one point, he asked the victim if he “wanted more.” Eventually Gray was handcuffed and removed from the area.
When he was questioned about the assault, Gray claimed it was self-defense and tried to show investigators that his back was broken. But there was no sign of any injury.
The victim told police that he had been in the cell with Gray for a few days because they were both in quarantine due to the COVID pandemic.
At first, they got along fine, but he reported that Gray was on mediation but was not getting it. As time went on, his behavior became increasingly odd and he was talking to himself.
On the day of the assault, the victim said he was sitting on the edge of his bed when Gray told him he needed to be on the floor, grabbed his mattress and threw it on the floor.
After the victim told him to “knock it off,” Gray became increasingly irate. The victim tried to get past Gray to the door so he could call a CO, but Gray shoved him against the wall. The victim was unable to remember the rest of the assault.
He suffered multiple facial fractures, and a stroke causing right side weakness as a result of the assault, according to the report.