Potter County judge sentences man to life for 2020 murder of inmate

POTTER COUNTY, Texas (KFDA) - A Potter County judge sentenced a man to life in prison for the murder of a Clements Unit inmate in 2020.

A Potter County 181st District Court judge sentenced Cornelius Harper to life in prison without the possibility of parole Monday.

Harper was found guilty of capital murder in the killing of Clements Unit inmate Silvino Nunez in April 2020.

Officials say Harper confessed to binding Nunez, strangling him, and stomping on his head.

Harper then staged the body to deceive correctional officers for at least two days.

Officials say Harper stated that the victim was a “parasite” and Harper believed it was his mission to “purge those he saw as ‘defective.’”

At the time of the incident, Harper was incarcerated for a murder charge out of Fort Bend County.

“Harper has shown himself as one of the most calculating and violent offenders incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. His blatant and unmitigated lack of respect for life, both in prison and in the free world, has demonstrated that he can never be allowed to leave confinement without posing a grave danger to the public. He belongs in prison for life without the possibility of release and we are grateful to the court’s sentence,” said Eric Quisenberry, special prosecution unit.