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."