SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CN) - An Illinois prison inmate who strangled his cellmate must pay $13 million to the late cellmate's estate, and the estate of his mother, a federal judge ruled. U.S. Magistrate Judge Byron Cudmore issued the default judgment in favor of Sherree Daczewitz, who sued Corey Fox and Illinois prison officials for the February 2004 strangling of her son, Joshua.
Daczewitz claimed that the Illinois Department of Corrections and officials should have known Fox posed a threat to her son after Fox allegedly warned three guards about his intent to harm Joshua.
The murder happened at the Menard Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison in Southern Illinois. Fox was serving a life sentence for the stabbing death of a co-worker. Daczewitz, 22, was serving a 7-year sentence for arson and robbery. Fox, who is now at the Tamms Correctional Center in southern Illinois, received another life sentence for killing Daczewitz.
Fox was ordered to pay $8 million to Sherree Daczewitz and $5 million to Joshua Daczewitz's estate. It is unclear how much, if any, of the judgment Fox will be able to pay. Sherree Daczewitz reached a private settlement with the Illinois Department of Corrections.
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