RALEIGH
A mentally ill prisoner who suffered head injuries while behind bars has died at a North Carolina hospital.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Tuesday that 49-year-old Timothy Helms of Concord died Sunday morning at a Greensboro hospital.
Helms suffered head injuries in August 2008 while being held at a state prison in Taylorsville. The State Bureau of Investigation was unable to determine how Helms' injuries occurred.
Officials say Helms had an IQ of 79. After suffering the injuries, he was bedridden and unable to walk.
His attorney says Helms' death shocked her because she had no indication he was ill beyond his normal condition.
Helms had been sentenced to three life prison terms on three counts of second-degree murder following a 1994 drunken-driving collision.
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