3 Parchman inmates die in a week

Three Parchman inmates have died in the past week, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Parchman inmate Marel Gartney, 20, was pronounced dead at 9:33 a.m. Wednesday at the prison hospital. No details were released on his death nor is foul play suspected.

Gartney was serving two sentences for a total of 10 years from Coahoma County, where he was convicted in September 2013 of shooting into a dwelling and shooting at a motor vehicle. Both carried an enhanced penalty.

The second inmate, a former Justice Court judge and law enforcement officer convicted of rape, died Thursday at the hospital at Parchman.

Billy T. Bonner, 78, was sentenced in March 2013 after pleading guilty in Wayne County. He was given five years to serve.

According to the Associated Press, Bonner was arrested in July 2011, after Wayne General Hospital told authorities a 16-year-old rape victim had been brought to the medical facility.

Sheriff John Farrior told reporters that the girl was cleaning Bonner's house when the sexual assault occurred.

Randy Bevill, 58, who was serving life in prison for the 1986 murder of a woman who went missing after going jogging, died Friday at 2:10 p.m. at Bolivar County Medical Center. He was transported there from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman hospital for treatment.

Bevill was tried and sentenced twice for the July 31, 1986, murder of Amy Clayton, 18, of Tupelo, in Lee County.

Bevill was first convicted of capital murder in 1987, but the conviction was reversed on appeal. He was convicted a second time of homicide/murder and sentenced to life April 16, 1992, as a habitual offender, based on two prior convictions of grand larceny and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling in Pontotoc County. 

The causes and manners of death of all three inmates are pending autopsies.

Contact Therese Apel  at 601-961-7236 or tapel@gannett.com . Follow her on Facebook  and Twitter .