Death Penalty Will Be Sought in Guard’s Death

The San Bernardino County district attorney announced Friday that he would seek the death penalty against the inmate who allegedly killed a Chino prison correctional officer in January.

Inmate Jon Christopher Blaylock, 35, allegedly stabbed veteran correctional officer Manuel A. Gonzalez Jr. three times with a homemade knife Jan. 10 at the Chino Institution for Men, killing the 43-year-old father of six from Whittier.

Blaylock was serving a life sentence for the attempted murder of a police officer.

“We have to protect our guards in prison,” Dist. Atty. Michael Ramos said at a news conference attended by the officer’s family. “The only message to send [prisoners] from this case is that if you kill, we’re going to take your life. [Blaylock] took the life of a wonderful human being.”

Blaylock is expected to be arraigned within two weeks.

Manuel Gonzalez’s slaying -- the first of a state correctional officer in 20 years -- is being investigated by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the state Office of the Inspector General and a special panel organized by the Department of Corrections.

John A. Ferrone and Mark J. Peacock, attorneys representing the Gonzalez family, said they will file a civil lawsuit against the Department of Corrections and the Chino Institution for Men for alleged misconduct related to the slaying.

The attorneys say Warden Lori DiCarlo was negligent because she failed to move Blaylock to another prison despite his violent history. She also failed to isolate him while he was held at the Chino prison, and did not distribute protective vests to correctional officers even though the vests were in storage at the prison, they said.

Gonzalez was not wearing a vest when he was stabbed in the upper torso and abdomen while in the prison’s reception center.