A state prisoner accused of murder said Friday that he was trying to protect himself from rape the day he fought off and later fatally stabbed another inmate.
Jose Enriquez, 23, of Miami, was brought over from Marion Correctional Institution in Lowell Thursday and appeared before a judge via video in at the Marion County Jail Friday morning.
Judge Robert Landt ordered him held without bond, assigned a public defender and set a next court date for Jan. 23.
Speaking to a reporter at the jail, Enriquez said he stabbed Omar Billups twice with a knife, in the neck and stomach, in an open area of the facility.
He stabbed the Billups, he said, because the 30-year-old fellow prisoner was trying to have sex with him.
“I wasn’t going to let him rape me,” Enriquez said, sitting on an aluminum bench.
He said the incident occurred on July 17. He was in an open bay using the bathroom when Billups slapped him and knocked him onto the ground, Enriquez said.
Then, he said, Billups placed a knife at his neck and tried to remove his pants to rape him. The man said they fought and he managed to get away from Billups.
Enriquez said he was sitting by the bunk area when Billups returned.
By then, Enriquez said, he was armed with his knife and Billups also had a knife. Enriquez said they fought a second time and, during the tussle, he was able to take Billups’ knife and use it to stab him.
Prosecutors with the State Attorney’s Office were given the case and decided to issue the arrest warrant for Enriquez. It was signed by a judge on Dec. 15.
State records show Enriquez was serving time for grand theft of a motor vehicle, grand theft and burglary, and was slated to be released on Dec. 26. With the new homicide charge, his release date is on hold.
Billups was in prison for aggravated assault, grand theft, burglary, driving on a suspended driver’s license and shoot/throw missile at a building or vehicle. Billups, who was sentenced in Hillsborough County in 2011, died three days before his 31st birthday.
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