Police: Patient Kills Another Patient Over Loud Radio At Psychiatric Facility
PHOENIX (CBS Local) -- A resident at an Arizona treatment facility for sex offenders killed another resident because the victim's radio was too loud, according to authorities.
Police say Donald Fay Prather, 83, was playing his radio Tuesday at the Arizona Community Protection and Treatment Center when the patient next door to him, Robert Wayne Fleming, 58, became upset with the noise.
The two got into a confrontation in the hallway, where Fleming repeatedly struck Prather -- even after he fell to the ground and hit his head on the floor, police said.
PD: Patient kills another patient over loud music at #Phoenix treatment facilityhttps://t.co/lCGBflqfq3 pic.twitter.com/LMkywldxgT
— azfamily 3TV CBS 5 (@azfamily) April 24, 2019
Prather was taken to Maricopa Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, CBS affiliate KPHO reported.
Fleming was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder.
The Arizona Department of Health Services said it is cooperating with Phoenix police in the investigation.
The Arizona Community Protection and Treatment Center "provides treatment and housing for individuals who have committed a sexually violent offense, completed their mandatory sentence with the Arizona Department of Corrections, and are deemed unsafe to return to the community because they are likely to re-offend," ADHS said in a statement.