Death penalty sought for Colorado prisoner who allegedly had a pattern of killing other inmates

FLORENCE, Colo. (KRDO) - Federal prosecutors are looking to pursue the death penalty for a man accused of killing a fellow inmate while in a Florence, Colorado prison. But this is actually the second time he's been accused of killing another inmate.

Ishmael Petty entered into the prison system after a 1998 conviction for bank robbery, according to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) says he committed "an elaborate armed bank robbery in Mississippi where he was wearing a police officer’s uniform."

After his incarceration, Petty was then accused of killing an elderly cellmate while imprisoned in Pollock, Louisiana. The Department of Justice says he was ordered to serve a life sentence in 2002 for that crime.

The FBI says Petty was also found guilty of attacking two librarians as they tried to deliver books to his cell back in 2013.

Fast forward to 2020, where Petty allegedly murdered another inmate again. The DOJ says Petty was housed at the Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Florence when he allegedly killed someone who was housed in the same unit.

This week, a federal grand jury indicted Petty on charges of first-degree murder and murder by a federal prisoner serving a life sentence, the DOJ said.

The DOJ says Attorney General Pam Bondi has given the United States Attorney for the District of Colorado the authorization to pursue the death penalty.