A Georgia inmate was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for drowning his cellmate over a bag of candy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
William Alexander Brooks, 22, was in Clayton County Jail on theft charges when he viciously beat and drowned his cellmate, Kenneth Robert Grochowski, in the toilet in August 2012. The altercation began over a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups that Brooks wanted for himself.
Brooks pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, the newspaper reported. The theft charges against Brooks were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea.
Grochowski, 57, had purchased the candy from the prison commissary and gave some to Brooks. The two reportedly began to argue when Grochowski would not hand over all of the peanut butter cups.
Brooks punched his cellmate in the throat, slammed his head into the wall and began kicking him, Clayton News Daily reported.
"The defendant then moved the victim to the toilet and immersed his head into the water," Clayton County Executive Assistant District Attorney Katie Powers said according to CND. "He fractured his thyroid cartilage and hyoid bone and the victim was unable to raise his head from the water."
The attorney said Brooks waited nearly 15 minutes before he called for help.
"When officers arrived, he made the statement that he killed his cellmate," Powers said according to CND. "And the reason for putting his face in the toilet was that 'I didn't like him for trying to take the Reese's cup, so I killed him because he pissed me off.' "
Grochowski was arrested at an Atlanta airport in early August 2012. He arrived on a flight from South America and was arrested for avoiding charges for weapons violations, aggravated DUI and eluding arrest, police told CND.
Grochowski was waiting to be extradited to Illinois when he was killed.
