Mississippi inmate is set on fire by another prisoner

MOSS POINT, Miss. (AP) – A Mississippi inmate’s mother says she wants to know why another prisoner set her son on fire, saying she is receiving little information from the state.

Tony Howard Jr., who is serving a 20-year sentence for manslaughter, is in a hospital.

Linda Howard of Moss Point tells news outlets her son was set afire Aug. 3 at South Mississippi Correctional Institution near Leakesville.

She says an investigator from the Mississippi Department of Corrections called her six days later and told her another inmate used chemicals and a homemade lighter to burn Tony Howard Jr.

The department confirms an encounter between Howard and another inmate, but is declining to provide details during an investigation.

The prison is the same one from which a convicted murderer escaped for two days in July.

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