An inmate of the Pulaski County Jail faces a murder charge in connection with an alleged fatal altercation with another inmate, according to documents filed in circuit court.
Darrin L. Lee, born 1985, is charged with second-degree murder, second-degree felony murder and first-degree assault. Lee remains incarcerated with bond on the new charges set at $1 million.
Lee was being held in pretrial detention within the Pulaski County Jail stemming from charges of two felony counts of second-degree domestic assault. On May 6, the new case’s probable cause statement details Lee and another inmate began fighting over whose turn it was to have a television's remote control. Following the altercation, the statement says the victim was taken by ambulance to General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital for treatment and died the next day after being airlifted to Mercy Hospital in Springfield. The identity of the victim is redacted from the court documents.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control was assigned to investigate the incident. During an interview with officers, Lee is quoted as admitting he’d struck the victim during the fight over the remote and was angry because of his “tone of voice.”
The statement concludes by citing the fight was captured by a security camera within the jail and shows Lee striking the victim’s head, neck and body with his fists.
The charges described above are merely accusations, not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
