An argument over juice boxes that preceded a vicious stabbing resulted in a Maryland inmate being sentenced to life in prison Friday, according to prosecutors.
Courtney Butler, 35, was given life in prison plus 10 years for the attempted murder of a fellow inmate at Jessup Correctional Institution in 2021, according the Office of the Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney. This sentence comes on top of a 35-year sentence Butler was already serving from a 2009 Baltimore County robbery and weapons charge.
“To attempt to take a life over something so trivial is extremely disturbing and shows the defendant has no regard for human life,” Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a statement. “This wasn’t a spur of the moment crime as the defendant stewed and planned this attack. I appreciate the judge’s sentence as it will keep this defendant out of our community.”
Butler and another inmate got into an argument over the distribution of juice boxes on March 25, 2021, according to the prosecutors. The argument continued throughout the day, with Butler making multiple trips past the victim’s cell and threatening him.
The assailant went on to say he was “going to get in trouble” and lose his job as an inmate worker while making a phone call later on. In the same telephone room, he walked up from behind the victim and stabbed him multiple times in the back before throwing him to the ground.
The victim was rushed to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Shock Trauma Unit where he was treated for his injuries.
Butler was found guilty of attempted first and second degree murder, among other charges.
