Former Kentucky federal prisoner accused of killing fellow inmate
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Former Kentucky federal prisoner Daviian Roberts charged in Oct 2024 murder at USP Big Sandy.
- Roberts charged with three counts of assaulting officers for March 4, 2025 attack.
- Roberts held at USP Florence ADMAX; federal release scheduled for Jan 2035.
A former inmate at a Kentucky federal prison is charged with killing another inmate in 2024, according to court documents.
Daviian Roberts, 35, is accused of killing Michael Smith in October 2024 at the United States Penitentiary Big Sandy facility in Martin County. USP Big Sandy is a high-security prison that can house 1,216 inmates.
No other information about the alleged killing was provided in Roberts’ indictment. It’s unknown what Roberts and Smith were convicted of to get sentenced to prison, and it’s unclear why the investigation took nearly a year and a half.
Roberts is also charged with three counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding a correctional officer for attacking three USP Big Sandy officers on March 4, 2025. Court documents say he used “a deadly or dangerous weapon” while the officers were performing official duties.
There are no scheduled hearings in the murder or assault cases. Roberts is now being held USP Florence ADMAX, a super max federal prison known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies,” according to A&E.
The supermax prison in Florence, Colo. houses some of the most dangerous criminals in the world, including drug cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and World Trade Center terrorist Ramzi Yousef, according to A&E.
Roberts was scheduled to be released in January 2035 before the latest murder charge, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
