PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — An inmate at Charlotte Correctional Institution has been arrested in connection to the death of another inmate in 2021.
According to court records, 38-year-old Zachariah Williams faces one count of non-premeditated homicide.
The documents allege that on Feb. 27, 2021, correctional staff found Williams standing over his cellmate, repeatedly kicking them in the head and ignoring commands to stop, until Williams was pepper sprayed and restrained.
Investigators said that the victim died in the hospital a few days later on March 2, 2021. An autopsy report revealed that the inmate died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.
Williams had been sentenced to life in prison in 2011 for murder in Putnam County.
Williams was arrested on Oct. 17, 2025, and is now being held at the Charlotte County Jail as he awaits his arraignment on Nov. 17.
