Northwest Regional Correctional Center inmate pleads guilty to inmate assault

September 18 – POLK COUNTY, Minnesota – A Fort Yates, North Dakota man who is currently being held at the Northwest Regional Correctional Center changed his plea Tuesday, September 17, in an assault case against a fellow inmate.

Christopher Paul James Morrison, 24, was charged with first- and third-degree assault after throwing boiling water on another inmate, according to a probable cause statement filed in the case.

Morrison pleaded guilty to the lesser charge, and will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Thursday, September 19.

On March 24, a sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the correctional facility,

where a man was observed with burns on his chest, arm, shoulder, neck and back, according to the statement. In some places, his skin had peeled off, revealing large wounds.

The man said he had been working and saw Morrison talking to his cellmate. He suspected they were up to something; Morrison was microwaving water for apparently no reason, the statement said.

As he made rounds around the unit, the man said Morrison approached him and poured two cups of boiling water over him. A physical altercation ensued.