Inmate at Jefferson City Correctional Center accused of stabbing corrections officer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An inmate who is serving a life sentence for murder was charged with several felonies on Tuesday after he allegedly assaulted two corrections officers in 2023.

James Henderson, 44, was charged in Cole County with first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, two counts of violence toward a Department of Corrections employee and one count of having a weapon at a prison. He is being held at Potosi Correctional Center in Washington County.

Court documents say he assaulted two employees at Jefferson City Correctional Center on Nov. 16, 2023. The probable cause statement says that Henderson hit one of the employees in their face, tried to run away and hit the same employee again when they caught up with him. He then used a “homemade prison weapon resembling a knife” to stab the other employee, the statement says.

The first victim was able to restrain Henderson and call for backup, the statement says. The other officer had stab wounds to their head and forearm, the statement says.

A court date has not been set.