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Small Vigil Held for Inmate Who Died in Altercation

WILKES-BARRE — A corrections officer and the inmate he was fighting fell to their deaths in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility on Monday. On Friday ...
vigil

WILKES-BARRE -- A corrections officer and the inmate he was fighting fell to their deaths in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility on Monday.

On Friday evening, some people gathered for a small vigil--surrounded by armed officers--as they remembered the inmate who died.

"We just had to come," said one woman. "It's a sad way to go."

Investigators say correctional officer Kris Moules pulled aside Timothy Gilliam from the other inmates on the fifth floor of the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.

As Moules tried to handcuff Gilliam, who investigators concluded was being disruptive, Gilliam pushed back. That's when the two slammed into a closed elevator door. It opened, and the two fell 59 feet.

"It's just sad," said Nakiyh Brown. "You see somebody and the next day you find out they're dead."

Only Nakiyh Brown felt comfortable sharing her name, but all three of them spoke at length about their love for Gilliam, his religion, his way of life, and just a warm personality.

"That type of person you want to be around, he was that person," added another woman.

The Luzerne County district attorney and the coroner ruled the death of Moules a homicide while Gilliam's death was ruled accidental.

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