Hancock State Prison inmate stabbed to death

Published 12:02 pm Thursday, June 19, 2025

SPARTA, Ga. — An inmate at Hancock State Prison was stabbed to death in the yard of the prison Tuesday afternoon, local and state authorities say.

The case is being investigated as a homicide.

The latest violent crime to occur at Hancock State Prison, located on the outskirts of Sparta, was the result of an apparent argument between the victim and another inmate that escalated into a physical altercation between the two men, according to Hancock County Coroner Dontrelle Andrews.

The coroner told The Union-Recorder during a telephone interview Tuesday night that the victim was stabbed several times with what he described as some type of homemade weapon believed to be a shank.

Andrews identified the victim as 34-year-old Corey Jose July, originally from McDonough.

The victim’s 35th birthday was to have come on June 25.

The coroner said the stabbing took place between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. along a sidewalk outside. 

Andrews said he pronounced July deceased shortly after 4 p.m. 

An autopsy was scheduled Wednesday at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in Decatur to determine the exact cause of the inmate’s death.

An investigation into the case was still ongoing Wednesday by investigators with the Georgia Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards.

July had been a state prison inmate since June 2024. He was serving a sentence for having been convicted in Floyd County on charges of shoplifting, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.