UPDATE: Jury convicts inmate in 2025 Hancock State Prison murder

A jury convicted Vershaun Smith of malice murder after prosecutors said surveillance video showed him chase and repeatedly stab Corey July.

UPDATE: A Hancock County jury convicted Vershaun Smith of malice murder Wednesday in the June 2025 stabbing death of fellow Hancock State Prison inmate Corey July, according to Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III.

Barksdale said surveillance footage showed Smith chase July, corner him at a locked gate and stab him multiple times. Judge Alison T. Burleson sentenced Smith to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Smith was already serving a sentence for voluntary manslaughter.

ORIGINAL STORY (6/18/25):

HANCOCK COUNTY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – An inmate was fatally stabbed at Hancock State Prison on Tuesday, according to Hancock County Coroner Dontrelle Andrews.

Andrews said the stabbing happened around 2:30 p.m. on June 17 while the inmate was outside in the prison yard. He said there was a physical altercation with another inmate that led to the fatal stabbing.

The inmate has been identified as 33-year-old Corey July. July was serving a three-year sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon out of Floyd County, with a maximum release date of February 2027.

The death is being investigated by the Georgia Department of Corrections’ Office of Professional Standards.