
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 15, 1993                   TAG: 9306150318
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CELESTE KATZ
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

INMATE LIKELY KILLED HIMSELF, OFFICIAL SAYS

Wayne Kenneth DeLong, the death row inmate found dead in his Mecklenburg Correctional Center cell Sunday, probably committed suicide, Ben Hawkins of the state Department of Corrections said Monday.

"There is no evidence that anyone did him any harm," Hawkins said.

According to a statement issued by Mecklenburg Warden Charles E. Thompson before the autopsy, DeLong's "unresponsive body" was discovered in his cell at 8:30 a.m. Sunday by a correctional officer making a routine inspection.

DeLong, 37, had been on death row at Mecklenburg since December 1986. He was sentenced to die for the June 15, 1986, murder of Richmond police Detective George R. Taylor. After his last appeal attempt failed, he was sentenced to go to the electric chair on July 15.

According to Joann Royster, an operations officer at Mecklenburg, death row inmates are checked hourly, and no one except correctional officers has access to their cells.

Hawkins said a statement will be released when the investigation has been completed.

by CNB