Trail set for inmate who killed fellow inmate

A man accused of killing a fellow inmate at the Preston County Jail in 2005 will stand trial next year.


Leonard Wotring III has pleaded not guilty in the first-degree murder of Timothy Daft, of Independence, who had been in the Kingwood jail on charges of sexually abusing a toddler.


Wotring was indicted last week, and his trial is set for Jan. 12.


He is now an inmate at the Mount Olive Correctional Center, serving 3-15 years for the attempted murder of his grandfather.


Daft's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming Daft was attacked by Wotring and other inmates. It claims then-Sheriff Ron Crites knew about the attack and did nothing, then concealed information from Daft's family.

The death was initially labeled a suicide.