Bail Upheld for Prisoner Accused of Murdering Cellmate

Bail will remain at $2.1 million cash for a Mercer County Jail inmate accused of killing his cellmate and brutally beating another inmate in separate incidents earlier this month.
 
The judge also ordered Tuesday that 19-year-old Lamar Gaines must undergo a competency evaluation to determine if he's fit to stand trial.
 
Gaines is accused of beating and strangling 38-year-old Darryl Boone, who was found inside the cell the two men shared. A motive for the Oct. 5 attack has not been disclosed, but prosecutors said Gaines was purposefully trying to kill Boone.
 
"During the course of his statement, he indicated that while he was attacking Mr. Boone, he was checking for guards," assistant county prosecutor Michelle Gasparian said during Tuesday's hearing. Authorities have said Gaines initially tried to strangle Boone with a ripped bed sheet as he slept, then eventually slammed Boone's head against the concrete floor and stomped on his head until he believed Boone was dead.
 
Gaines faces $1 million bail for the murder charge stemming from Boone's death, and another $1 million for an attempted murder charge stemming from the other jail attack. The latter incident, which had occurred two days earlier inside a gym area, left another inmate hospitalized with serious injuries.
 
Gaines initially was being held at the jail in connection with a February 2012 robbery and carjacking. His bail for those counts was set at $100,000.
 
Boone was being held on a recent vehicular homicide charge.