A former North Carolina middle school gym teacher — convicted of repeatedly raping a 15-year-old girl — was killed by another inmate inside his prison cell early Sunday, according to officials.
Ernest Nichols, 60, was found unresponsive at Greene Correctional Institution in Maury, North Carolina, just before 7 a.m., according to a statement from the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
Prison staff performed CPR and called EMS, but Nichols was pronounced dead before 7:30 a.m., reports WITN-TV.
By Tuesday, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office served a murder warrant to another inmate, Wilbert Baldwin, who is already serving time for second-degree murder, according to WRAL and The New York Post.
A History of Abuse and Deceit
Nichols was a longtime gym teacher at Ranson Middle School in Charlotte, where he worked for 14 years before being arrested in 2009 on 27 charges, including multiple sex crimes.
His 15-year-old victim, who was not a student at the school, told police that Nichols raped her repeatedly over six months after impersonating his own son on Facebook and MySpace to lure her in.
Investigators said Nichols sent the girl explicit messages, demanded she write sexual stories, and ordered her to notify him whenever she entered the shower.
According to court documents, he even watched her engage in sexual acts with another male and told her to say she “wanted” to have sex with him if anyone asked.
When confronted by the victim’s mother, Nichols reportedly called himself a “pig” and showed no remorse. Police later seized videotapes, cameras, photographs, and sex toys from his home during the arrest.
In 2011, Nichols was convicted of statutory rape and sentenced to 15 years in prison, with a projected release date in September 2027.
Investigation Underway
The prison was placed on lockdown following the killing. Sheriff Matt Sasser confirmed the death is being investigated as a murder and said officials expect further updates soon.
Nichols’ violent death ends a long, disgraceful chapter for the former educator who preyed on a teenager — and serves as another reminder of how prison justice often comes swiftly for those convicted of crimes against children.
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