In the death row incident Feb. 21, condemned murderer Ponchai Wilkerson kicked open his cell door and took an officer hostage even though a control panel indicated Wilkerson's cell door was locked, the report said. At the time, the guard, Jeanette Bledsoe, was escorting another condemned inmate, Howard Guidry, and both began kicking her to force her into a prison day room. Thirteen hours later, after negotiations that included an episode where Wilkerson slapped the prison warden in the face, Wilkerson and Guidry surrendered. Bledsoe was not injured. Investigators concluded the area was appropriately staffed but one guard who was dispensing food improperly left Bledsoe alone when he ran out of food and went to get more.
Procedures call for two officers to be present.
In addition, with Bledsoe alone and processing inmates for recreation, she was unable to properly strip search them because rules call for same-gender strip searches. The report recommends all death row inmates leaving cells should be escorted by two officers. The report also recommended death row inmates and prisoners in administrative segregation, the highest level of custody, have their cells searched every two days. Wilkerson, who had a history of behavior problems since he was condemned for killing a Houston jeweler, was executed last week. In the seconds before he was died, he spit out a handcuff key he had been concealing in his mouth.