Inmate death leads to 10-year sentence in Crittenden County

CRITTENDEN COUNTY, Ark. – An inmate death in the Crittenden County Detention Center has led to a prison sentence for a second inmate.

The Arkansas State Police said in a Friday release that 43-year-old Chiquita Roberts was sentenced to 10 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections and 10 years of suspended imposition of sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree death by delivery.

According to officials, an investigation was launched after 40-year-old Shalanda Hurd was found dead in her cell on Nov. 2, 2023. The Arkansas State Police were asked to investigate.

During the investigation, security camera footage and witnesses showed Roberts sliding contraband under Hurd’s cell door shortly before she was found dead.

The state crime lab found Hurd had died from fentanyl and cocain