New details in murder case against former Alabama prison sergeant

ELMORE COUNTY, Ala. (WAFF) - Troubling new details in the murder case against a former Alabama Department of Corrections employee.

As we reported last week, D’Marcus Sanders was arrested and charged with murder, along with two other inmates named Fredrick Gooden and Stefranio Hampton. They’re accused in the beating death of another inmate named Rubyn Murray.

Sanders was a sergeant at Elmore Correctional Facility. He resigned after his arrest. At the time, a news release from the Alabama Dept. of Corrections did not go into detail about Sergeant Sanders’ involvement.

Newly filed court documents provide new details. According to the deposition, Murray got into an altercation with another jailer in the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 26th. He was placed in a holding cell at the back gate. This new document claims that Sergeant Sanders “escorted two inmate co-defendants (Gooden and Hampton) to the back gate of the facility and unlocked the cell. The defendant (Sanders) allowed the two co-defendants into the cell, and the co-defendants attacked and beat the victim, causing serious injuries.” Murray was taken to a hospital in Montgomery but died from his injuries.

The deposition does not detail why this happened.

All three defendants in this case are being held in custody without bail.

Murray, 38, was serving a 20-year sentence for first-degree robbery out of Montgomery County. Gooden, 60, is serving a 30-year sentence for second-degree theft of property out of Jefferson County. Hampton, 35, is serving a life sentence for first degree robbery out of Montgomery County.