More than a year after Angela Anderson died in custody at Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto, a fellow inmate has been arrested for her murder.
On September 29, authorities charged Leticia Ranae Land with the crime which occurred on September 11, 2022. Deputies booked Land at the Habersham County Detention Center. They charged her with murder, aggravated battery, and rioting in a penal institution.
According to arrest warrants, Land strangled Anderson in the A-Unit, A-Building Dayroom at the prison.
Anderson, of Wilcox County, was 39 years old when she died. Family members say she struggled with mental health issues from an early age and had been in and out of juvenile detention facilities. She was serving a life sentence for murdering her uncle in 2001.
The 40-year-old Land was serving a 20-year sentence for armed robbery out of Richmond County, Georgia. She has been in prison since 2018.
Year-long investigation
From the outset, state corrections department officials remained tight-lipped about the murder, saying they did not want to “hinder the investigation.”
Sources inside the prison say Anderson and Land were in the mental health dorm. The corrections officer on duty reportedly failed to secure them in their cells during lockdown.
Sources say that after allegedly beating and strangling Anderson to death, Land dragged Anderson back to her cell and left her there. Now Habersham has not been able to verify that information independently.
Joan Heath, director of public affairs for the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC), did not provide additional details following Land’s arrest. Habersham County jail records indicate Land has been released back into GDC custody.
