CO Manuel Gonzalez
Inmate accused of killing Chino guard set to start competency trial soon
Lawyers are expected to begin jury selection Monday in the competency trial of Jon Christopher Blaylock, the inmate charged with killing a Chino prison guard in 2005.
Opening statements could start as early as Wednesday in the Fontana Superior Court, officials said.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Blaylock, 43, who is charged with murder and assault by a life prisoner in connection with the Jan. 10, 2005 fatal stabbing of corrections Officer Manuel Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, of Whittier, was stabbed four times while on duty at the California Institution for Men in Chino.
Blaylock was at the prison serving a life term for the attempted murder of a police officer in 2002.
Investigators say guards had released Blaylock from his cell inside the prison's Sycamore Hall housing unit in an attempt to quell racial tensions when Gonzalez was attacked with a makeshift weapon.
Blaylock, who has been described as a gang shot-caller with a long history of violence and mental problems, was charged about a month after the stabbing, but his case has moved slowly through the courts.
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