ABILENE/TAYLOR COUNTY (KYTX) - A Tyler man serving a life sentence in prison was killed Aug. 7 by another inmate at the Robertson Unit near Abilene.
Cellmate Michael Deloach is accused of killing Elasko Mark Thomas on Aug. 7 during an altercation, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Deloach is a year into his 40-year sentence for murder.
In January 2011, a Smith County jury convicted Thomas for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 30-year-old woman in June 2010. It was his third stint in state prison - receiving a five-year sentence in 1993 for vehicle burglary, and a two-year sentence for sexual assault in 2004. All three convictions were in Smith County.
Thomas' death marked the 10 homicide reported in a Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility, making 2012 the deadliest year in more than a decade at state prisons.