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For The Journal
David Chavez
WALHALLA — There will apparently be no charges filed as a result of a jailhouse beating that sent one inmate to Oconee Medical Center for four days.
Walhalla Police Chief Tim Chastain said Tuesday that accused murderer David J. Chavez has chosen not to seek criminal charges against a fellow inmate who beat him last Thursday morning resulting in broken ribs and a deflated lung. Chavez, charged in the Oct. 14 killing of his wife, 21-year-old Wendoli Chavez, was released from the hospital and returned to jail on Monday.
Authorities said they obtained a written statement from Clarence C. Hendrix Jr., acknowledging that he beat Chavez after learning he had been accused of killing “a friend of his.”
Hendrix, 18, of Seneca, has had a series of arrests this year, the most recent being Aug. 22 when he was booked for kidnapping, criminal domestic violence and first degree burglary after he allegedly broke into a Pelham Creek Drive home, assaulted a female and kidnapped a young child.
Oconee County Detention Center Director Major Steve Pruitt said a disciplinary hearing would be held as a result of the assault. He said that could lead to a loss of commissary or phone privileges. “There isn’t really much more than that we can do,” Pruitt said.
Earlier, Pruitt had commented on the fact that overcrowding and understaffing contribute to incidents between inmates. The detention center, built in 1978, has been cited by the state for both situations. Designed to house 122 inmates, the facility had between 190-200 last week.
The most recent state audit also addresses the need for a “classification plan” that properly assigns inmates to classification categories based on sex, age, criminal sophistication, seriousness of crimes committed, whether or not they’ve been sentenced, aggression, medical considerations and other criteria.
Ironically, given the crimes charged against both Chavez and Hendrix, the two would likely have been housed in the same cell even if a classification system was in use.
The 23-year-old Chavez was immediately taken into custody when police arrived on the scene of his wife’s homicide Oct. 14. Coroner Karl Addis confirmed later that his wife died as a result of strangulation. She also suffered a single, non-fatal, stab wound to her abdomen.
Police escorted several members of the woman’s family, including two children, out of the home at 501 S. Depot St.
brett@dailyjm.com (864) 882-2375
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October 21, 2009
1:18 a.m.Report inappropriate content
To all those people out there who are talking trash about david you guys didnt even know anything about him or how he was. that guy is my cousin and is like a brother to me we grew up together and this doesn't sound like something he would have done. But from what i know from growing up with him he always had a temper problem with blacking out and its like he told us he didnt know what he did and i guess know he knows. But yea RIP Wendy And we love you and miss you David J Chavez
October 21, 2009
10:33 a.m.Report inappropriate content
He murdered his wife in cold blood. What more do we need to know? Yeah most of us didn't know him, (thank God) but we sure knew his wife & also knew that she was a very sweet girl who didn't deserve what happened to her. In my opinion he deserves every bit of what is coming to him. No one can convince me otherwise. How can you say he didn't seem like that kind of person, when even the article in the newspaper said he bragged about being a part of a gang in Washington State? What do you think gangs are popular for, charities? I think not. Don't think you knew this person quite as much as you think.
October 21, 2009
10:39 a.m.Report inappropriate content
I do not agree with what Chavez did, nor do I agree with what Hendrix did. But it sickens me to think that this incident could make Chavez a poster child for prison overcrowding/understaffing so that Oconee County can get funds for a new facility.
October 21, 2009
12:47 p.m.Report inappropriate content
Don't blame overcrowding. They may be crowded and understaffed but probably anyone in the building could have heard this commotion. Where were the staff that they do have. Or maybe it happened while everone's back was turned.
Not that he didn't deserve it because he did. You would have to be blind and deaf not to know that something like this was taking place.
October 21, 2009
2 p.m.Report inappropriate content
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I really don't care if the prisons are overcrowded. If you do the crime, then tough, you aren't going to be spending your time in a spa. If you are a little uncomfortable while in prison, not my problem!! I hope you suffer as much as your victim!!!
October 21, 2009
7:23 p.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 21, 2009
9:16 p.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 21, 2009
9:50 p.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 21, 2009
11:44 p.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 22, 2009
5:29 a.m.Report inappropriate content
Mob mentality seems to rule...sad day in Oconee.
October 22, 2009
8:26 a.m.Report inappropriate content
"I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I really don't care if the prisons are overcrowded. If you do the crime, then tough, you aren't going to be spending your time in a spa. If you are a little uncomfortable while in prison, not my problem!! I hope you suffer as much as your victim!!!"
Hey JS, AMEN!!! Well said.
October 22, 2009
8:27 a.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 22, 2009
8:35 a.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 22, 2009
9:32 a.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 22, 2009
9:56 a.m.Report inappropriate content
David did a terrible thing. He will (and should) in all likelihood spend the rest of his life is jail. However, a jailhouse beating is not justifiable. For those of you supporting the mob mentality beating, shame on you.
Where is the person monitoring comments on this site? All this name calling is/ was supposedly not allowed.
October 22, 2009
10:16 a.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 22, 2009
10:17 a.m.(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
October 22, 2009
11:02 a.m.Report inappropriate content
To imply that someone brought death on themselves by something they say is ignorant.
October 22, 2009
11:06 a.m.Report inappropriate content
Go ahead and censor that too.
October 22, 2009
10:22 p.m.Report inappropriate content
OK, I make a comment last night, and come back tonight and it's gone along with half the thread. What happened?! Ironically I can't even remember what my 2nd post said!! Sort of sucks when it gets removed from the thread, it also gets removed from your personal list of posts!
So, what was this mob mentality that seem to start after my first post?
Oh, that's right I mentioned about marriages ending all the time for all kinds of different reasons, and nobody had the right to kill someone for any reason...even if you were cheated on!! Not sure why that would have made someone mad...unless they were the "cheatee" and wanted revenge...
And Seneca Journal Messenger, or whatever your name is nowadays...99% of us on this site are anonymous, so little insults really shouldn't matter. That is the beauty of anonymity...we can speak our minds and nobody should take it personally!
October 22, 2009
11:14 p.m.Report inappropriate content
(This comment removed by me)
hey how do I get the pink background, mine won't let me do it?
October 23, 2009
7:51 a.m.Report inappropriate content
JS...they'll do anything to shut us up
October 23, 2009
10:30 a.m.Report inappropriate content
LOL pgoldman
October 23, 2009
11:01 a.m.Report inappropriate content
Irony: A newspaper censoring free speech
October 23, 2009
11:12 a.m.Report inappropriate content
Thank you JS....i couldn't say it any better myself!!
October 24, 2009
2:17 p.m.Report inappropriate content
Nana....I don't think he'll be a poster child. I just think they posted this for our pleasure of reading. What he did made a lot of people, including myself, sick to our stomachs. Most of us thought he would just get to sit in a cell waiting on a trial. However, he got what he deserved. Does it make up for what he did to my friend? NOT EVEN CLOSE!! I believe that whatever he gets while he's in jail, he asked for it. Not only did he end her life, but those of us that knew her have to live with the fact that she will no longer be in our lives. Yet he gets to live & has access to medical treatment, when needed. She never got that chance.