Transfer Try Preceded Stabbing

Two months before a guard at Chino state prison was slain, the warden sought a transfer for the inmate who was ultimately accused in the stabbing.

Jon Christopher Blaylock, who was in prison for the attempted murder of a police officer, is accused of stabbing Corrections Officer Manuel A. Gonzalez Jr. three times with a handmade weapon at the California Institution for Men in Chino on Jan. 10.

The warning about the inmate came in a Nov. 19 memo. Because of his violent history, mental health problems -- including suicidal tendencies -- and an undisclosed contagious disease, Chino Warden Lori DiCarlo recommended that he be transferred to the high-security California Medical Facility in Vacaville.

Department of Corrections officials declined Monday to comment on the memo or to explain why the inmate was not moved, except to say that Blaylock was a known gang member with many enemies, which made him “a difficult person to place.”

The inmate, who has since been moved to another prison, had a history of prison violence dating back to 1990, according to DiCarlo’s memo to state prison officials in Sacramento.

The memo, which was made public by lawyers for the guard’s family, said Blaylock had repeatedly attacked other prisoners, assaulted and threatened prison staff, and attempted suicide.

Gonzalez’s family contended that the prison failed to properly supervise the inmate and put the guard at risk by not issuing protective vests.

Shortly after the attack, it was revealed that the prison had protective vests for about a third of its officers but had not distributed them. Three days after the killing, officials distributed the vests to some guards -- protection that Gonzalez’s family believes would have saved his life.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, after investigating Gonzalez’s death, concluded that the corrections officer was the victim of a random attack by a violent inmate.

The investigation did not focus on whether the protective vests would have saved Gonzalez’s life or whether Blaylock should have been housed at the Chino facility.

The department’s findings have been submitted to the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office, which is reviewing the case, Sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Bradford said.

“This was a crime of opportunity that would have happened to any guard in that position,” he said.

The state Board of Corrections has created a panel to investigate the death and recommend improvements in the prison system.

DiCarlo’s memo was included in a petition that was filed last week by Gonzalez’s family with the state workers’ compensation board.

The petition, which is seeking increased death benefits for the family, alleged that the Department of Corrections acted recklessly because it failed to provide Gonzalez with a protective vest and failed to transfer Blaylock to another prison sooner.

“If he had been wearing the vest at the time of the assault, he would have survived the assault,” said Mark Peacock, an attorney for Gonzalez’s family. “It’s completely outrageous that they did not distribute the vests in a timely manner.”

The prison ordered more than 900 stab-proof vests -- more than enough for every guard -- from the Department of Corrections early last year, but the prison received only 362 vests in September, prison officials said. Prison administrators held off distributing the vests until they had enough for all the guards, officials said.

Three days after Gonzalez was killed, the 362 vests were distributed to corrections officers who patrol the prison’s maximum- and medium-security wings.

Peacock said Gonzalez’s family planned to file a civil-rights lawsuit, seeking restitution and punitive damages from the state, against the Department of Corrections.

A spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. echoed the allegations made by Gonzalez’s family, saying that the Department of Corrections was “grossly negligent” in the death. “The death of Manuel Gonzalez spurred the department to use vests,” said Lance Corcoran.

The California Institution for Men in Chino is a “reception center” where inmates from throughout Southern California are processed before serving their sentences in other prisons. Blaylock arrived at the Chino facility in June 2004, according to DiCarlo’s memo.

Corcoran said prisoners at Chino are typically transferred in about 45 days. “He should not have been housed in the facility where Manuel worked,” Corcoran said.

According to DiCarlo’s memo, Blaylock had been arrested and jailed six times since 1985. While in prison, he had been disciplined 42 times, including several times for assaulting prisoners, attacking prison staff, attempting suicide and mutilating himself, the memo said.

DiCarlo said Blaylock claimed he had more than a dozen enemies throughout the state prison system. Because he feared his enemies might kill him, Blaylock refused to be transferred to a high security state prison in Corcoran, according to the warden’s memo.

Times staff writer Lance Pugmire contributed to this report.