• Square-facebook
  • X-twitter
  • Instagram
Time to read
less than
1 minute
Read so far

Man pleads guilty in jail fight death

Fri, 01/13/2017 - 4:33 pm
editor@grahamleader.com
A Jacksboro resident has been sentenced to 20 months in state jail in the 2015 beating death of a man while both were inmates in the Young County Detention Center. Christopher Nathan Cunningham, 25, accepted a plea bargain in 90th District Court in Graham last month, pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the July 13, 2015 death of 45-year-old John Belyeu. Cunningham was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and court costs. “He had been incarcerated on another charge,” said 90th District Attorney Dee Peavy. “There was an altercation between him and another inmate in the rec room… they exchanged blows, and (Belyeu) was unconscious and unresponsive and ultimately he passed away.” Texas Rangers were called in to investigate the case. Both men had extensive criminal histories. Peavy said the decision to offer the plea deal was based on a number of factors, but “ultimately, the issue was the intent.” “And there was some question as to who provoked the altercation and who took the first punch,” she said.  As well, Peavey said, “the victim in the case had some other significant health issues which may have contributed to his ability to recover.” Cunningham was not publicly named as the other inmate involved in Belyeu’s death until his plea deal was completed. Belyeu was survived by his wife, two children and his parents.