POLKTON, N.C. (AP) – A former soldier who pleaded guilty two years ago to killing a teenager he thought broke into his home near Fort Bragg has killed himself in his North Carolina prison cell.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Keith Acree said in a news release that 25-year-old Christopher Blackett was found dead Sunday afternoon at the Lanesboro Correctional Institution in Anson County.
Blackett pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder in the killing of his 17-year-old neighbor Vincent Carlisle II in 2011. He was sentenced to at least 26 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Blackett offered to sell Carlisle marijuana, then forced him to go into the woods and shot him four times as Blackett tried to crawl away.
Blackett’s roommate Sebastian Gamez is still awaiting trial in the killing.
