Deadly Carjacking Raises Questions and Fears : Escape: Inquiry seeks to learn how Sheriff’s Department overlooked warnings that George was violent and an escape risk.

Sheriff Jim Roache ordered an investigation Wednesday of how jail officials overlooked warnings about a violent criminal who overpowered a deputy, stole her gun and killed a motorist in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Johnaton George, an inmate with a history of committing brutal crimes, escaped Monday night while he was being transported to the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center by Deputy Lydia Werner, 58.

The parents of the slain man, Michael Champion, said they didn’t blame Werner, but the system.

“I just think it’s a shame her people put her in that situation,” said Ray Isham, Champion’s adoptive father. “She was just as much a victim as our son was. I hope they change their system for transporting people like that.”

Ray and Deatra Isham, Champion’s mother, said they had tried to reach Werner on Wednesday to tell her they didn’t hold her responsible for the death of their 29-year-old son.

“Of course, it’s devastated us. He’s our only child, and we’ll never have any others,” Deatra Isham said. “But I have better memories of my son than the murderer’s parents will ever have of theirs because our son honored us. This world is the worse off for having lost him; he’s one of the irreplaceable ones.”

San Diego police and other law enforcement agencies in the county, including the U.S. marshal’s office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, continued to search for George on Wednesday. The car he hijacked Monday night had not been recovered, but investigators said they believe George was hiding in San Diego County.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Glen Revell said Roache convened a special panel of investigators from within the department to study the escape and find out why Werner was assigned to transport George and another prisoner by herself. The other prisoner, who was confined to a wheelchair, did not attempt to escape.

“The panel will ascertain what can be done better to preclude a tragedy like this from re-occurring. We’re trying to find out what we could have done differently and better,” Revell said.

A report on the group’s findings is expected in about one week, Deputy Victoria Reden said. Two deputies usually are assigned to transport high-risk criminals like George, she said.

The U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego and a Superior Court judge had warned county law enforcement officials that George was violent and an escape risk. Officials said George had twice escaped from custody before his latest escape Monday.

His rap sheet included arrests for auto theft, rape, battery and sodomizing a fellow inmate.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Sherri L. Walker, who was waiting to prosecute George on federal charges of being a career criminal, had warned the district attorney’s office in June about George’s violent nature and his previous escapes.

In a letter to the district attorney’s office, Walker wrote: “Therefore, I would recommend extreme caution in transferring George from federal to state custody and urge you to return (George) to federal custody promptly.”

On June 1, when he was on trial in San Diego County Superior Court, George escaped from a county holding cell. He was captured four days later by U.S. marshals. U.S. marshal’s office spokesman John Clark said it took five marshals to wrestle and subdue the 6-foot, 240-pound inmate.

On Monday evening, George was being transported from El Cajon Superior Court, where he had appeared earlier at a hearing on his June jail escape and other charges.

George was in federal custody at the time on charges of being a career criminal. Walker said George was facing a minimum of 15 years in custody if convicted of the federal charges.

While Werner drove the prisoners’ van through the Gaslamp Quarter, George, 34, slipped out of a waist chain and handcuffs, kicked open the door and jumped out. Werner chased and tackled him. San Diego police said George turned on Werner and beat her senseless before stealing her gun.

Police said that George attempted to hijack several cars before confronting Michael (Mick) Champion at 5th Avenue and G Street with the deputy’s weapon.

Investigators said George demanded that Champion give up his Honda automobile. When Champion refused, George allegedly shot him once in the head and pulled his body out of the car. Champion’s male companion escaped unhurt, and George drove off in the hijacked car.

San Diego police spokesman Bill Robinson said investigators had received many reports from across the county and Southern California from people who reported seeing George. However, none of the reports proved fruitful.

“We received about a dozen calls today (Wednesday). We had one report where he was reported driving a white car,” Robinson said. “We’re checking each and every lead and are asking people to assist us, but only to the point where they not get involved in apprehending him. This is a very dangerous criminal.”

According to San Diego County Superior Court records, George has a history of substance abuse, illustrated by a 1981 conviction for marijuana possession in jail, and George’s admission that he used methamphetamine regularly for the past year.

George “attributes his entire criminality to the use of the drug,” read a county probation officer’s report dated Sept. 21, adding that his ability to reason had been impaired by drug use.

George once described to his probation officer a botched plan to steal a car for use in a robbery.

On Jan. 10, George and another man were caught inside a parked car, the door locks broken, a screwdriver jammed in the ignition, and a rubber mallet on the car’s floor. George said he was on his way to shoplift disposable diapers for his baby daughter, and, out of consideration for his father, he did not want to use the family car.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of robbery. George was booked and released on his on recognizance.

“He explained that he would never have done such a thing if not under the influence and that he becomes ‘super crook’ when using methamphetamine,” the probation report said about the attempted car theft.

Nine days later, George was arrested for attempted robbery at the Big Bear market on West San Ysidro Boulevard. On Jan. 19, 1992, about 4 p.m., George bought some groceries, and tried to walk out of the store with an additional $28 worth of items tucked in his coat.

A security officer stopped him outside the market and told him to step back inside for questioning. George dropped the bag he was carrying and punched the guard in the face. After the two wrestled momentarily, a second security guard helped subdue George.

He later said he had the money to pay for the items--three packs of cigarettes, two lighters, a set of baby spoons and some baby’s booties. He chose to steal them because he was “outraged by the cost of the spoons and booties,” the report said.

George has twice earlier eluded authorities. In 1978, after being convicted of a 1977 series of rapes, lewd acts upon a child and burglary, George was arrested for unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle when he escaped from Patten State Hospital, where he had been sent for evaluation as a mentally disturbed sex offender.

On July 1, 1992, George disappeared from a holding cell during his trial at the courthouse in Chula Vista. Left alone in a locked room, George escaped during a 10-minute juror break.

When arrested in January, he was an unemployed roofer, living at his parents’ house with his girlfriend and their 11-month-old daughter.

George has three brothers and three sisters, between the ages of 22 and 39, most of whom live in the area. George’s mother is a teacher’s aide; his father is retired, and his occupation is not listed in court records.

Crew members from the television show “America’s Most Wanted” were in San Diego on Wednesday to film a segment about George, which is scheduled to air Friday night, Robinson said.

Times staff writer Nora Zamichow contributed to this story.