Ohio prison inmate suspected in killing of corrections officer on Christmas Day

An inmate is suspected of assaulting and murdering a long-time corrections office on Christmas Day at an Ohio prison, ABC News reported Tuesday. Prison officials are calling the killing "beyond comprehension."

Officer Andrew Lansing was attacked Wednesday at the Ross Correctional Institution (RCI) in Chillicothe, OH. The inmate accused was identified as Rashawn Cannon, according to CBS affiliate WBNS. Cannon was in jail for felonious assault and weapon charges and wasn’t slated for release until Aug. 5, 2030. He has been moved to a maximum security facility in the state, per ABC’s report.

"The loss of a staff person is difficult, but to lose a family member on Christmas Day at the hands of someone in our custody is a tragedy beyond comprehension," Annette Chambers-Smith, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said in a statement. "Instead of going home after his shift to be with his family on this holiday, Officer Lansing made the ultimate sacrifice, and our agency will never be the same."

Chamber-Smith did not say how Lansing was attacked, whether a weapon was involved or where the murder occurred in the huge penitentiary. Prison medical orderlies took Lansing was taken to a hospital but he was dead on arrival. The RCI detains almost 2,000 prisoners, half of which are deemed as a “security threat group,” according to a report released in September by the Ohio General Assembly's Correctional Institution Inspection Committee. The report followed a surprise inspection of the jail by the group.

With 320 corrections officers on staff, the facility was deemed as being 47 positions understrength. The prison is in lockdown until the Ohio State Highway Patrol completes its investigation into the murder.

Chamber-Smith described Lansing as "a long-time, well-respected employee" at the prison and said that his "untimely death – on Christmas Day – is heartbreaking for his family, the entire Ross Correctional Institution family, and our agency as a whole."

"Officer Lansing was loved by his colleagues and known to be a great support for his fellow RCI staff," Chamber-Smith said. "He was a friendly, outgoing officer who treated everyone with respect and was always a professional."

The report on RCI revealed that fighting among inmates had risen by 23 percent since 2022, when a prisoner was killed by another inmate.