James Holmes: Colorado Movie Theater Shooter Beaten Up In Prison By A Fellow Inmate

James Holmes, the Colorado movie shooter who killed 12 people at the Century movie theater in Aurora in 2012, has been beaten up by a fellow inmate at Colorado’s State Penitentiary, the state’s maximum-security prison, according to Reuters.

The incident took place on October 8 when Holmes was being moved by a correctional officer through the facility. Mark C. Daniels, who is also referred as “Slim” within the penitentiary, charged at Holmes and “took a few swings” at him, according to Adrienne Jacobson, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Corrections. When the correctional officer tried to break up the fight, Daniels, 27, charged at the officer, too; however, nobody was seriously injured in the attack.

Colorado theater killer #JamesHolmes attacked in jail by inmate nicknamed 'Slim' https://t.co/n50aJ6SHb6 #ZippedNews https://t.co/tlW83Zyvjs

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Daniels will be charged with assault on a correctional officer and an assault on Holmes, the spokesperson confirmed.

Jacobson, speaking to the Associated Press about the incident, was keen to avoid getting into the details. However, she did confirm that the fight took place when both offenders were being moved from their cells.

“Daniels and Holmes are both housed at Colorado State Penitentiary. The incident occurred during an offender movement.. It was in passing.”

According to The Denver Post, Holmes is currently being housed in the Management Control Unit of the prison, where he is allowed to spend four hours in a day hall. For Holmes, who lives in a cell-block by himself, this is the only time during the day when he gets to interact with other prisoners. The contact between him and Daniels came as they were passing in the hallway.

Though the authorities were not keen on divulging the details of the incident, Daniels allegedly wrote a letter to The Denver Post after his brawl with James Holmes, describing the reasons that led to the attack. Colorado Department of Corrections has not yet confirmed the authenticity of the letter, though it is believed the initials on the letter correspond to that of Daniels.

Holmes was moved to the Colorado State Penitentiary as recently as September and as a result has not had the time to interact with other prisoners, prison authorities said.

Daniels, who has used many aliases in the past including a female pseudonym, Katrina Martinez, is serving time for numerous convictions for menacing, auto theft, assault and smuggling contraband into prison. He was also charged with first degree assault on a guard in 2006.

Holmes was sentenced to more than 3,200 years in prison on 24 counts of murder and 140 counts of attempted murder, after he opened fire at people attending a midnight screening of the Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. on July 20, 2012, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. A day later, police found his apartment booby-trapped with explosives, which were defused by a bomb squad.

James had pleaded “not guilty” to the charges against him, citing insanity in his defense. Though the jury had failed to reach an unanimous decision about his execution, he was sentenced to prison for the rest of his life without a chance of parole.

Holmes has previously claimed that prisoners who do not know him personally are generally misinformed about his intentions behind the mass shooting. During an interview with a court-appointed psychiatrist, he said that prisoners often call him “a baby killer”, though maintaining that he had chosen the midnight screening as his time for the shooting to avoid targeting children. However, the youngest victim killed in the rampage was six-year-old Veronica Moser, who was shot four times by Holmes.

It is still not clear if James Holmes will be relocated to another prison as the result of the assault, but it remains a possibility.

[Photo by RJ Sangosti-Pool/Getty Images]