Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
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closeFriday, Jul. 03, 2009
Beaten Coyote Ridge inmate loses eye, still in coma after surgery
By Joe Chapman, Herald staff writer
A Pasco man who was beaten by a cellmate has lost his left eye and remained in a coma Thursday after about seven hours of surgery at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
It's not clear whether Scott William McDonald, 45, will be able to speak, eat, breathe on his own or walk again, said his sister, Laurie Ingram of Pasco.
"We're just thankful that he's made it through the surgery," she said.
Cellmate Kenneth Smith, 32, reportedly used a smudge pot in a pillowcase to beat McDonald on Monday in their Coyote Ridge Corrections Center cell in Connell.
Surgeons inserted plates in McDonald's face and head, reconstructed his left eye socket and stitched up his right eye, Ingram said. In three days, they'll try to remove his breathing tube, but if he can't breathe on his own, they'll do a tracheotomy on him, she said.
"He's going to be at Harborview for a very long time. ... A lot more surgeries to come," Ingram said.
The Connell Police Department has investigated the assault and forwarded a report to the Franklin County prosecutor, which will consider filing charges in the matter.
The Department of Corrections planned an investigation of its own to assess what happened and the prison staff's handling of it. The investigation will review the policy on allowing prisoners to have items such as smudge pots, which are used in some religious ceremonies to burn incense or sage.
McDonald was sentenced in August 2007 to eight years in prison for attempted first-degree robbery and an additional four years and three months for second-degree escape. His record from 1982 to 2007 included nine felony convictions.
But his sentences had been shortened by about three years because of credit for good behavior. His sister said he wasn't a threat to other inmates.
Smith is serving a 26-year term on three counts of assault out of Snohomish County. He was sentenced in 1996.
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