Inmate charged with homicide at SCI Fayette
An SCI Fayette inmate who is already serving time for a third-degree murder conviction is now charged with criminal homicide for a fatal blow that reportedly killed another prisoner last year.
Daysean “All Day” Wykee Brock, of Huntingdon repeatedly denied assaulting the inmate, police said.
The victim, John Steckley, 51, was assaulted at 7:19 p.m. June 18, but not receive medical attention until the next morning when he was found unresponsive at the Luzerne Township prison, according to court documents.
An inmate who reportedly witnessed the assault said he was at the poker table when he saw Steckley and another prisoner, Darrell Mack, fighting over money the victim owed him in the yard. He said the first inmate told Brock, also known as “CB17 Top Bunk” or “Day Day”, “to get him away before he slapped him.” He said Mack slapped Steckley and knocked him down, but did not cause injuries, according to court documents.
The witness said Brock then “blindside punched (Steckley) hard,” knocking him off his feet and causing his head to hit the ground. Immediately following the assault, police said Brock left the yard and made a phone call.
The witness said “he saw Steckley lay there for a long time,” police wrote in the affidavit, before inmates helped him up and into his cell. He was reportedly vomiting, coughing up blood, going in and out of consciousness and had slurred speech.
“The next morning at count, the victim did not get up,” court documents said. Corrections officers checked on him, and he was unresponsive. Officers thought he had overdosed on a controlled substance, police wrote.
He was taken to medical, then transported to Uniontown Hospital where a head injury was discovered. Steckley was flown to Allegheny General Hospital, where he was intubated. Steckley died at the hospital June 26.
An Allegheny County medical examiner determined Steckley died of a blunt impact injury to the head and ruled the manner of death homicide.
Prison staff learned of the assault through inmate interviews and surveillance footage, and contacted state police June 20, police said.
Police said Brock was read his Miranda rights twice, but refused to sign the rights and warnings waiver. He said in a recorded statement that he only knows Mack “from around the block” and was on the phone when the assault occurred. He claimed he was not in the yard where the assault occurred and did not know Steckley, assault him or know who assaulted him. He asked for a lawyer when pressed on the surveillance footage, police said.
Brock is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Brock is serving a term of 24 years and 1 month to 48 years and 2 months in prison for his third-degree murder conviction, according Rhonda House, assistant to the superintendent at SCI Fayette. He was committed Jan. 18, 2013.
Steckley was serving a 10 to 22 year sentence for an aggravated assault conviction in Philadelphia County. His sentence began in September 2006, meaning he could have been released last year. He began his sentence at the Luzerne Township prison Dec. 4, 2008.
House declined further comment on actions taken by prison staff prior to officers finding Steckley unresponsive, referring those questions to state police.聽