# UPDATE: Jury convicts inmate in 2025 Hancock State Prison murder – 41NBC News > A Hancock County jury convicted Vershaun Smith of malice murder for the June 2025 fatal stabbing of fellow Hancock State Prison inmate Corey July, according to Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attor… **Published**: 2026-08-15 **Source**: https://gps.press/gps-news/update-jury-convicts-inmate-in-2025-hancock-state-prison-murder-41nbc-news/ **Author**: Georgia Prisoners' Speak --- A Hancock County jury convicted Vershaun Smith of malice murder for the June 2025 fatal stabbing of fellow Hancock State Prison inmate Corey July, according to Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III. Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Smith chasing July, cornering him at a locked gate, and stabbing him multiple times. Judge Alison T. Burleson sentenced Smith to life in prison without parole; Smith was already serving a sentence for voluntary manslaughter at the time of the attack. The original incident occurred on June 17, 2025, in the prison yard, and was investigated by the Georgia Department of Corrections’ Office of Professional Standards. July, 33, was serving a three-year sentence for firearm possession by a convicted felon out of Floyd County.