Prison guard kills girlfriend, himself at Chillicothe Correctional Center

Associated Press

CHILLICOTHE, Mo. -- A prison guard shot and killed his estranged girlfriend, then took his own life while both were on duty at the Chillicothe Correctional Center, authorities said Monday.

Daniel Bunton 35, and Stacey Davis, 31, both of Brookfield, died in the murder-suicide Sunday, said Livingston County Coroner J. Scott Lindley. Bunton and Davis had recently started working as guards at the 525-bed women's prison.

Lindley said the shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m. after Bunton and Davis passed each other in the hall of one of the prison's building. They "exchanged words," Lindley said.

A senior officer who was accompanying Bunton told Davis to leave the area and finish her duties. Moments later, Bunton shot her with a handgun.

"He shot her as she was going out the door," Lindley said. "He shot her from behind and then he took his own life."

Lindley said Bunton shot himself in the chest. Lindley would not comment on the type of gun or to whom it belonged.

Bunton and Davis had been living together but recently separated, Lindley said. She had four children from a previous relationship.

"We've never had anything of this type" happen before, said prison superintendent Jennifer Miller.

Several people witnessed the shooting, which happened outside a building that houses a library and classroom. Prison officials said only Bunton and Davis, both of whom were on duty, were involved. Both were pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Guards at the prison are not allowed to carry guns for their jobs. While there are occasionally random searches, they do not have to pass through metal detectors, Miller said. The Department of Corrections sent investigators to the scene to try to determine how the weapon got into the prison.

"We have policies in place, though we do have to trust our employees to a certain extent," said Department of Corrections Director Larry Crawford.

Crawford said the prison went into institutional lockdown after the shootings, during which time inmates were confined to their living areas and were not allowed to communicate with people outside of the prison.

Corrections spokesman Brian Hauswirth said investigators were interviewing about 20 witness. The prison, which houses minimum- to maximum-security inmates and employs about 200 people, is one of two Missouri correctional institutions for women.