Inmate electrocuted in industrial accident at Varner Unit in Lincoln County

An inmate at the Varner Unit died on Friday. It was apparently the second time a federal prisoner has been electrocuted in a workplace accident in just over two weeks.

Brian Walker, 53, was installing lighting at the Lincoln County Jail when he “apparently touched a live wire,” according to a news release from the state Department of Corrections.

Hospital staff performed life-saving measures that continued during transport to Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff, where Walker was pronounced dead, the release said.

Walker was serving a 40-year prison sentence in Pulaski County for a 2007 rape conviction, the press release said.

Earlier this month, the department reported that 42-year-old Nathan Boursh was electrocuted while working at the Benton Work Release Unit.

Boursh, who was most recently convicted of drug possession, was using a metal pole he found near a pond to untie a fishing lure wrapped around a power line when the pole touched the power line, according to a department news release.

Despite life-saving efforts on site, Boursh died at 12:29 p.m. that same day in the emergency room at Saline County Memorial Hospital, the Department of Corrections said.