HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — "I woke up alive, so that's a good blessing."
Those are words spoken by Harris County Sheriff Detention Officer J. Valdiviez who was recovering at his home Monday after being badly beaten by an inmate Friday.
Valdiviez said he was doing his regular routine, checking on the inmates, when he was ambushed from behind and beaten unconscious.
"We were pretty much having a fight going down the stairwell where they said that my head hit the rails, the steps and then the floor," Valdiviez said. "According to other coworkers and staff and friends of ours, they said that I flatlined and they had to do CPR."
The inmate accused of randomly attacking Valdiviez has done this before. According to court records, this is the fourth time Christian Dillard has assaulted an officer since 2021.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Dillard has been in Harris County Jail since April 2020.
Valdiviez is now able to fully open his eyes after they were swollen shut, and though he is still sore, his biggest fight is fighting for change.
He said he spoke to Gonzalez and told him he wants to see change.
"I'm not gonna wait for someone else to get hurt, or for someone else to go through the same incident," Valdiviez said.
Gonzalez said his department does what it can to keep everyone safe inside the jail, but it's difficult to maintain because of overcrowding.
"We work hard to make our jail safe for everyone who lives and works there," he said. "That's no easy task in an overcrowded facility that houses more than 800 people charged with murder or capital murder."
Gonzalez said anyone who harms public servants will be held accountable. Dillard has been charged with aggravated assault against a public servant in connection to the Valdiviez attack.
While this plays out in court, Valdiviez said he is going to continue to advocate for change.
"I just wanted to raise awareness of the situation and prevent someone else's son or daughter from getting that crucial phone call from someone, telling them they're not going to make it," he said.
Valdiviez does not plan on quitting his job.
