Nevada prisoner pleads guilty in cellmate’s stabbing death
A 34-year-old man pleaded guilty to a murder charge on Thursday for stabbing his cellmate 96 times with a plastic “shank” in High Desert State Prison.
Andrew Hilford already was serving a life sentence for a murder conviction when he fatally stabbed 21-year-old Isaiah Sharp on March 14, 2021, with a sharpened piece of plastic taken from a TV in the men’s prison cell, court records show.
Hilford pleaded guilty to first-degree murder during a court hearing on Thursday morning.
As part of the guilty plea, Hilford agreed to serve another life term with the possibility of parole after 20 years for Sharp’s death, although a judge will have the final say on his sentence.
District Judge Tierra Jones said Thursday that Hilford will serve his two life sentences consecutively. He previously received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years for a 2006 fatal shooting and robbery near the Strip.
Hilford’s attorney, Keith Brower, and prosecutor Erica Gold declined to comment on the case following the plea hearing.
In June, Sharp’s family filed a lawsuit against the Nevada Department of Corrections, claiming the prison system violated Sharp’s rights when officials “carelessly, recklessly, (and) unjustifiably housed him in a cell with a known, violent inmate who had previously threatened harm against anyone placed in his cell.”
Months before attacking Sharp, Hilford told a prison official that he wanted a specific roommate and that he would hurt anyone else who was housed with him, according to the lawsuit.
Sharp was less than a month away from being released from the prison when he was killed, the lawsuit said. The Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners had recommended that Sharp be released from prison on March 31, 2021, when his minimum sentence for a 2017 armed robbery was set to expire.
Jones ordered Hilford to appear in court again on Oct. 13 for a sentencing hearing.
This story has been updated to reflect that the judge said Andrew Hilford will serve his two sentences consecutively.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_nebwerg on Twitter.
