Military prisoner at Fort Leavenworth prison dies 5 days after getting hit with baseball bat

LEAVENWORTH, Kansas - A military prisoner struck with a baseball bat during a fight at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth has died.

Michael Fricke, who had been incarcerated for 16 years for murder, was involved in a brief altercation on July 24 with another prisoner while they were playing sports, Fort Leavenworth spokeswoman Rebecca Steed said in a prepared statement.

Fricke died late Thursday morning, five days later.

The altercation, which Steed says was broken up quickly by corrections officers, happened about 2 p.m. in a secured recreation field at the jail.

A helicopter flew him to a local medical facility for treatment. He died around 11:50 a.m. Thursday when his family authorized stopping life support for him, Steed said.

The alleged assailant, who has not been identified, remained Friday in a secured area away from other prisoners.

According to Steed, the USDB is the only maximum-security prison in the Department of Defense, however it also houses minimum- and medium-security military prisoners from all branches of service.

The 515-bed jail houses U.S. military prisoners sentenced to long terms of confinement, according to its website .