Mississippi Prisons Remain on Lockdown, Chief Says 4 of 5 Killings Carried Out by Gangs

Mississippi’s outgoing prisons chief said Friday that at least some of the five killings of inmates since Sunday stem from gang violence.

Traffic moves past the front of the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Miss., on May 19, 2010. Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo

Mississippi’s outgoing prisons chief said Friday that at least some of the five killings of inmates since Sunday stem from gang violence, as guards struggle to maintain control of restive inmates.

“These are trying times for the Mississippi Department of Corrections,” Commissioner Pelicia Hall said in a statement hours after an inmate was found stabbed to death in his cell at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.