RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – A man convicted of killing a toddler died at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor, North Carolina, after being assaulted by other inmates. The Department of Public Safety said Semajs Short was serving a 31-year sentence and was scheduled to be released in May 2042.

Semajs Short. (Courtesy of NCDPS)

After his death, CBS 17 looked at federal data to investigate how common prison homicides are.

A 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Justice looked at mortality rates for state and federal prisoners between 2001 and 2019.

It found state prisoners were more than twice as likely to die by homicide than the general U.S. adult population. From 2001 to 2019, the number of deaths by homicide to inmates increased nationally by 267 percent.

The data showed the general adult population was more likely to die from drug or alcohol intoxication and accidents than the U.S. inmate population.

The DOJ report also found the portion of state prisoners who died from drug or alcohol intoxication, homicide and suicide all reached their highest levels since data collection by the department began.

Homicides made up just under four percent of inmate deaths. Those deaths were a result of inmates being killed by other inmates, incidental to the use of force by staff and resulting from injuries sustained during a prior altercation with other inmates.

The increases in overall prison deaths can be seen in North Carolina state and federal prisons, too.

In 2008, 293 per 100,000 North Carolina inmates died. Rates trended downward for several years, but by 2011, it started to rise again. By 2019, 345 inmates died per 100,000.

Even with those increases, North Carolina was among the lowest average annual rate of homicide in state prisons from 2001 to 2019. The state had an average of three inmate homicides per year during this time. Heart disease was responsible for an average of 68 deaths per years for the state.

During this same time, South Carolina had the highest average of annual homicides with 15 deaths per year. Meanwhile, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming all had zero homicides in this time.