A man who fatally shot a toddler has been killed in prison by a group of inmates.
Semajs Short died after he was attacked by the prisoners at the Bertie Correction Institution, in Windsor, North Carolina on Tuesday afternoon.
The 24-year-old was targeted in the housing area of the prison, a spokesperson for the state Department of Public Safety said.
Despite the efforts of paramedics he died at around 2.37pm.
Several other inmates were wounded in the attack, but sustained only non-life-threatening injuries.
At the time of his death Short had been serving a 31-year-sentence for the murder of toddler Dy’Unanna Anderson.
He had pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of the two-year-old at the age of 17.
Short stood trial alongside Jamonte Moody, who pleaded guilty to attempting to murder the Dy-Unanna's grandmother.
According to RR Spin, at the sentencing District Attorney Valerie M. Asbell said: “This was a horrendous event which shocked our entire community especially when it involved the murder of an innocent two-year-old girl and the attempted murder of her grandmother.
"It is my job as district attorney to hold people accountable for their actions and their roles in certain crimes.
“Our homes are where we should feel safe and when events like this occur, it shakes our sense of security in the sanctity of our own homes."
The attacks were carried out in retribution for the murder of 15-year-old Keyuon Garner.
Short and Moody went to the home of the sister of Teddy Anderson, who was wanted in connection with the murder at that point.
They stood on an air conditioning unit at a window where the baby, her mother and grandmother slept, a court heard back in 2017, and began shooting.
The gran was hit several times by bullets and even sustained a shot to the head.
Dy’Unanna was shot through the head and likely died before she got to hospital.
The Windsor Police Department and the State Bureau of Investigation are looking into the attack on Short.
In the US 120 people died in prison in 2018, according to Prison Policy Initiative data.
The rate of homicide in state prisons is 2.5 times greater than in the US population in general when adjusted for age, sex and ethnicity.
