Fuquan Alexander, 31, was sentenced Friday, two years after he tried to kill an N.J. corrections officer
TRENTON - A New Jersey State Prison inmate will serve another eight to 10 years behind bars after brutally beating a female corrections officer in an attempt to kill her two years ago.
Fuquan Alexander Fuquan Alexander, 31, was sentenced to 10 additional years in prison Friday for the assault. He will have to serve at least eight years and six months of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.
But it will be a while before that happens - Alexander is currently serving a 40-year term for a host of crimes, including, robbery, kidnapping, carjacking and assault from Essex County.
The new sentence will be served consecutively.
The prison charges stem from March 2014, when satate Corrections Officer Elegia Then let inmates out of their cells to shower. Alexander used the moment to jump on Then, and choked and beat her.
Another inmate pressed an alarm and corrections officers came running.
But by that time, Then suffered serious injury, officials said.
Officer won't get full pay after beating
Then was taken to the hospital with serious injuries, including brain damage. She was hospitalized for two weeks.
Alexander was later transferred from the Trenton prison to Northern State Prison in Newark following the attack, where he remains incarcerated.
He was charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault shortly after the incident and he pleaded guilty to trying to kill the corrections officer in March of this year.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.