A North Carolina prison inmate serving a 49-year sentence has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed a guard with a homemade weapon.

Lillington Police charged John L. Griffin Jr., 47, with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon against a government official, and possession of a weapon by a prisoner.

Investigators say at 10:05 a.m. on March 19, Griffin attacked and stabbed Mary Crosby, a correctional officer, with a homemade weapon in a housing dorm at Harnett Correctional Institution in Lillington.

Griffin is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on Tuesday in Harnett County Court.

Crosby, who has been a prison guard for 17 years, was treated for her wounds and discharged from the hospital that night.

Griffin was moved to restrictive housing at Polk Correctional Institution in Butner.

On Feb. 4, 1998, Griffin began serving a 49-year prison sentence for first-degree rape.