5 INMATES MAY BE CHARGED IN JAIL KILLING

Two-Man Fight Becomes Brawl

As many as five Orleans Parish Prison inmates could be charged in the
beating death Thursday of a bunkmate who was awaiting trial on a charge of
possessing a hypodermic needle with traces of heroin.

Joseph Quinn, 21, was beaten into a coma at about midnight in Tempelman
lockup, a minimum-security section of the prison, authorities said. He was
admitted to Charity Hospital at about 2:20 a.m. with massive trauma to the
head and body and pronounced dead at 9:20 a.m., hospital spokesman Jerry
Romig said.

Sheriff Charles Foti Jr. said the beating occurred after Quinn argued with
an inmate on his tier.

"There was a fight between two people and it escalated to the point where
other people jumped in," Foti said. "It was probably over something
trivial, like most fights. It happened real quick."

Foti said Thursday that he hadn't received a full report on the beating and
didn't know how long it took deputies to respond. When they arrived, he
said, they found that at least five other inmates were involved in the
attack. Those inmates, as well as others who witnessed the beating, were
questioned Thursday by Sheriff's Office investigators and homicide
detectives with the New Orleans Police Department.

"Everyone responsible will be charged," Foti said.

Quinn, of New Orleans, had been locked up since June 1 on a heroin
possession charge after a drug-tinged syringe was found under the seat of
his car, court records show. Unable to pay his $22,000 bond, Quinn was
waiting for his next court date on Aug. 1, records show.

His relatives were stunned by the killing. Family members summoned to the
hospital said he was beaten beyond recognition.

"I went into shock," said Charles Quinn, the victim's older brother. "Here
I am coming home from work and the first thing I hear before I step in the
door is that my brother's dead."

Quinn's uncle, Terry Brown, said he didn't even know his nephew had been in
jail. He got news of the beating Thursday while at work at a Baton Rouge
restaurant. He said he dropped everything and rushed to New Orleans, but he
found more questions than answers.

"I want to know how come my nephew went back there in good health and now
we won't see him alive another day on this earth," Brown said. "I have a
lot of questions. Where were the guards? Where were the cameras? I want to
find out exactly what happened."

Quinn was the father of a son and a daughter and his wife is expecting,
family members said.