Fla. inmate questioned in rape-murder of officer

By Walter Pacheco
The Orlando Sentinel

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — An inmate, with a criminal history of rape and kidnapping charges, is under confinement this morning after being accused of raping and murdering a female corrections officer at the Daytona Beach prison Wednesday, officials said.

Investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are interviewing inmate Enoch Hall, 39, in the murder of Officer Donna Fitzgerald, a 13-year veteran of the Tomoka Correctional Institution.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said that Fitzgerald, 51, of Port Orange, was attacked at 7:30 p.m. An agency report shows the corrections officer was on duty at the time of the attack. FDLE and Corrections officials declined from releasing additional details on the murder and the investigation.

"Investigators are being very closed with their information right now because they don't know all the details yet," Plessinger said.

A statement by Department of Corrections' Secretary Walter McNeil expressed sorrow for Fitzgerald's murder.

"The entire department grieves the murder of one of our finest officers and we pray for the victim's family during this difficult time," McNeil wrote.

State prison records show that Enoch is serving two life sentences for charges of sexual battery with a weapon and kidnapping stemming from a 1993 case.

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