Pubdate: Sun, 17 Dec 2006
Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ)
Copyright: 2006 East Valley Tribune.
Contact:  http://www.eastvalleytribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2708
Author: Dennis Welch, Tribune

PRISON GUARD QUITS OVER CELL KILLING

A state prison guard who says she was ordered to move a  petty drug 
dealer into the same cell with a convicted  killer -- a move that 
cost the drug dealer his life --  says the killing and the way she 
was treated afterward  by supervisors so unnerved her that she quit a 
short  time later.

The guard, Jonna Lyn Zeger of Mesa, called the Tribune  to tell her 
story after the paper reported last week on  the death of inmate 
William Harris. Harris was beaten,  choked and stabbed to death with 
a 9-inch prison shank,  according to a Maricopa County Medical 
Examiner's  report that ruled the death a homicide. Since the 
Sept.  7 killing, Arizona Department of Correction officials  have 
kept quiet about the case, releasing few details.  The department 
recently turned over findings of its  criminal investigation to the 
Pinal County Attorney's  Offi ce to determine if any charges should be fi led.

Gov. Janet Napolitano also has called for the  department to speed up 
its internal investigation of  the killing and determine whether 
Harris -- who had no  record of violence -- should have been placed 
in a cell  with a convicted murderer. That investigation should be 
completed by the end of this month.

Corrections director Dora Schriro is to appear before a  joint 
legislative panel Monday to discuss the  department's budget and 
other issues. She likely will  be asked about the Harris slaying. 
Zeger said she has  no idea how Harris ended up in the cell with 
Michael  Gaston, who had been convicted of killing a friend over  a 
car loan. She said she got an order to move Harris  into the cell, 
but that he begged her not to because  other prisoners wanted him 
dead. It's not uncommon for prisoners to protest cell moves. But, she 
said, prison  guidelines mandate that when an inmate claims his 
life  is threatened, he is to be placed back in his single  cell 
while a supervisor is called.

Zeger said she moved Harris to his original cell, and  another guard 
told her a supervisor would investigate  the inmate's allegations, 
according to corrections  records. It's still unclear whether a 
supervisor was  contacted.

But when Zeger returned to the unit later that  afternoon, about 
dinner time, she found Harris in a  different cell, lying on the 
ground with a blanket  wrapped around his head. He was covered in 
blood and  Gaston was standing over the body, she said.

"There wasn't a drop of blood on him (Gaston)," Zeger  said. "That 
was the strangest part of it all."

Gaston showed no remorse and quietly turned around and  waited to be 
handcuffed, she said.

Katie Decker, a department spokeswoman, would not  confirm or deny 
Zeger's account because of the ongoing  criminal investigation. She 
said the department does  not want to jeopardize the case.

"Some accounts of what happened that day have turned  into urban 
legend," Decker said. "Other accounts have  some truth. But we 
ourselves have not yet determined  what exactly happened that day."

Alan Ecker, a spokesman for the state Department of  Administration, 
did confirm Zeger's employment at the  Department of Corrections.

Zeger, who'd worked for corrections for more than two  years, said 
she started having recurring nightmares  soon after finding Harris' 
body. She said she asked the  department for counseling but none was provided.

She quit about two weeks later, in part because of the  slaying. But 
she said she was also angry about her  treatment afterward.

Zeger said supervisors were unsympathetic and  confrontational, and 
her concerns also were based on  the fact that guards were being 
forced to work overtime  -- something she refused to do.

Zeger said she had been disciplined for not working the  extra hours, 
which didn't endear her to some  supervisors.

"I felt that was part of the reason they didn't want to  help me with 
getting over the trauma of that day," she  said.

Officials with the Pinal County Attorney's Office and  corrections 
would not say whether Gaston is considered  a suspect in the case.

However, during an internal disciplinary hearing at the  prison Sept. 
18, Gaston was found guilty of killing an  inmate on Sept. 7, 
according to corrections records.  Decker would not talk about that 
hearing or release any  records, but the verdict of the hearing is 
listed on  department's Web site.

Gaston, 21, arrived at the prison in April for shooting  a friend to 
death in the desert near Wickenburg.

In 2004, Gaston and two others lured their friend into  the desert 
under the guise they were going rock  hunting. But it was part of a 
ploy to scare him into  repaying a car loan, court records show.

Gaston pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and  received a life 
sentence. He could be eligible for  parole in 25 years under a plea 
agreement with the  Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

At the time of the Harris slaying, Gaston was part of a  cleaning 
crew. And now, corrections officials are  looking into whether he 
should have been allowed work  at all.

Decker said it was unclear what types of jobs high-risk  prisoners 
such as Gaston are allowed to have.

"Right now we don't know whether he should or shouldn't  have been 
allowed on a work program," she said. "It's a  good question, and 
that's why we're taking a second  look."
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MAP posted-by: Elaine