Inmate allegedly stabbed by cellmate at St. Joseph County Jail

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. – An inmate at the St. Joseph County Jail was allegedly stabbed by his cellmate Monday afternoon, the St. Joseph County Police Department reported.

At 4:10 p.m., jail staff were called to a cell pod regarding a fight between inmates in one of the cells.

Staff was called by other inmates who saw the fight and told staff that someone was getting stabbed, according to the probable cause affidavit.

When staff approached the cell, they found inmate Mark Coleman in the back of the cell holding a sharpened piece of metal in his hand.

Inmate Malik Ware was at the front of the cell and appeared to have several lacerations on his neck and on both of his arms.

Ware was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Ware told a deputy that he and Coleman didn’t know each other. Coleman started asking Ware if he was the devil and allegedly told Ware he was going to kill him, according to court documents.

Coleman then allegedly stabbed Ware in the neck with a sharpened piece of metal, court documents said.

Ware slapped Coleman’s hands away, which is when Ware was stabbed in his arms.

Ware said he then fell to the floor because of the amount of blood.

The deputy also spoke to Coleman, who said he was trying to “break the ice” with Ware but felt threatened.

Coleman said he was threatened by Ware tapping on the wall. Coleman said he “poked him in the neck” with a sharpened piece of metal he had brought with him from Lake County, court documents said.

Coleman said Ware had never said anything to him that was threatening, just the tapping on the wall.

Coleman also told officers that Ware never physically touched him or attacked him in any way, according to court documents.

Coleman faces a charge of battery by means of a deadly weapon, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Coleman is currently awaiting trial for the October 2020 murder of Nina Sohlke. He also has a warrant out of Lake County for aggravated battery and battery resulting in serious bodily injury, police reports said.

A 5-inch piece of sheet metal with a point on one end and a washcloth wrapped around the other end was allegedly used in the attack, the Police Department reported.

Coleman told jail staff he had carried the piece of sheet metal in his rectum from the Lake County Jail, police said.