CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A deadly assault at a North Carolina prison has been ruled a homicide.
Michael Crumbley, 58, was assaulted by other inmates in June 2023 at the Tyrrell Prison Work Farm in Columbia, N.C., according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NC DAC). Crumbley died five days after the assault.
The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Crumbley's death a homicide on Tuesday. No information has been released on any suspects or motives for the assault.
Crumbley was serving a 12-year prison sentence for habitual felon and drug possession convictions in Cleveland County in 2018. Crumbley was convicted of various crimes as far back as 1982 in Brunswick, Cleveland, Gaston, and New Hanover counties.
Most of Crumbley's convictions were drug possession related but he was also sentenced for assault on a female, insurance fraud, and larceny, according to prison records.
The NCDAC, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Tyrrell County Sheriff’s Office are further investigating Crumbley's death.
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