CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — A Carroll County jail officer is recovering after an inmate brutally attacked her over the weekend, authorities said. Now, the sheriff's office is asking for the community to prayer for her recovery.
According to the sheriff's office, the officer, who they are not yet naming, was conducting cell searches Sunday night when she came to Patrick O'Neil Gentry's unit.
As she was searching Gentry's cell, she reportedly found an item he was not allowed to have. But, as she was trying to remove the item, the sheriff's office said the 34-year-old became angry, "threatened her, and attacked her in a violent manner."
Several other officers rushed in to subdue Gentry and help the injured officer. Officials said the officer was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, where she is recovering.
Gentry, meanwhile, is now facing additional charges of aggravated assault against law enforcement, aggravated battery, and terroristic threats and acts in addition to criminal attempt to commit murder.
He was already in jail for forgery, criminal damage to property, providing false information to law enforcement, and terroristic threats and acts after being arrested by the Villa Rica Police Department back in August.
Sheriff Terry Langley described the injured officer as an "asset" to the Sheriff’s Office in the roughly two years she has been serving and is "highly respected by her fellow co-workers as well as the inmates she cares for, as is clear by their willingness to assist her in a dangerous situation."
The sheriff vowed the case will be thoroughly investigated, and will fiercely prosecute Gentry to the fullest extent.
"We do not tolerate anyone who would have such a lack of respect and disregard for human life, especially for someone who selflessly serves this department and the citizens of Carroll County," the sheriff said in a statement.
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