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Pinellas deputies: Man charged with pregnant woman's murder injures jail inmate

 
Pinellas County jail inmate Charles Allen Jr., 41 (left), faces a charge of aggravated battery after deputies said he assaulted another inmate on June 18. That inmate, James Mills, 53, died on Tuesday. Allen could face more charges in the case. [Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]
Pinellas County jail inmate Charles Allen Jr., 41 (left), faces a charge of aggravated battery after deputies said he assaulted another inmate on June 18. That inmate, James Mills, 53, died on Tuesday. Allen could face more charges in the case. [Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]
Published July 18, 2018

LARGO — The man accused of fatally shooting a pregnant woman while she was riding home from church with her family last year now faces allegations that he assaulted a jail inmate who has since died.

Charles G. Allen Jr., 41, already faces two counts of first-degree murder in the Dec. 17 slaying of Elizabeth Rosado, 30, who was 13 weeks pregnant at the time.

Now he faces a new charge of aggravated battery stemming from a June 18 altercation in the county jail, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Clearwater police: Paranoid man fired rifle, killing pregnant woman (Dec. 22, 2017)

The inmate injured in that incident, James Mills, 53, died in a hospital on Tuesday, the agency said, four weeks after the incident.

The jail altercation started when Allen and Mills were arguing over a TV remote while being held in the same holding area, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Allen then struck Mills in the face with a TV remote, deputies said. Witnesses said Mills fell backward and hit his head on the concrete. Surveillance video backed up the account given by witnesses, the agency said.

Mills was evaluated by the jail's medical staff, then taken by ambulance to Northside Hospital in St. Petersburg. Then on July 10 he was transferred to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, deputies said, where his condition continued to deteriorate. He was pronounced dead at 5:07 p.m. Tuesday.

His cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner.

Then the Sheriff's Office will determine whether Allen should face additional charges depending on the results of the death investigation.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Warrant reveals more details in slaying of pregnant woman (Dec. 27, 2017)

Mills was originally arrested by Pinellas deputies on June 12 on charges of failing to register as a sex offender, failing to obtain or update sex offender identification and two Hillsborough County warrants for failing to register as a sex offender and failing to report his residence.

Allen also faces three counts of possession of powder cocaine and three counts of the sale and delivery of powder cocaine and one count of violating his probation. He continues to be held without bail in the county jail.

Clearwater police said the pregnant woman was riding with her husband, brother and 10-year-old stepdaughter home from church the evening of Dec. 17 when she was shot fatally shot. Allen was high on drugs when he fired a "high-powered rifle" into the family's car as he drove past, police said.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Allen.