By Jason Renard Walker 

Due to TDCJ officials’ past effort to set me up to be killed, for publishing past exposés, exposing their role in the K2 epidemic, I’ve spent the last two years in Powledge unit’s protective safekeeping. Not only is this supposed to be the most safe and secure housing area in TDCJ, that holds the most high profile and unique prisoners in Texas. It’s becoming the most corrupt. The policies, practices and administrative unwritten rules have made it a very dangerous area and contradict its purpose. 

On January 24 2025 a psychopathic convicted murderer serving life without parole, and who’s housed in protective safekeeping, was handcuffed with his hands in front of him and escorted (by officers Dodd and Fox) to another inmate’s cell with a weapon in his hand (under the pretext of taking him something) where he stabbed him on the arm. No force was used and the inmate was placed back in his cell with the weapon still in his hand that was never sought. Lieutenant Barker tried to cover up the incident by falsifying records and encouraging others to do so. Dodd and Barker are no longer at this prison. 

On January 26 2025 Matthew Percival committed suicide after guards told him to submit a handwritten sick call to the psych dept, after he expressed to several guards that he was feeling suicidal. While staff were reviewing cameras during the suicide investigation, they saw the stabbing. The stabbed inmate was then pulled out (a week later) and taken to medical to get his injury documented. 

Several staff were disciplined for falsifying that they conducted security checks and cell searches, weeks before and leading up to the suicide, but weeks later the supervisor-approved practices resumed. The only action taken was a warden and major swap, but the practices remained. On August 7 2025 as officer Link was opening a cell door, this same inmate (who stabbed another inmate) burst out running towards both guards. The small African female guard working (who was supposed to have the shield and pepper spray, but didn’t) ran off screaming, leaving Link to his own device as he was able to subdue the prisoner, who he wrote a staff assault disciplinary on. While Link was writing his report, a female Sgt took his place and her and the unreliable African guard recklessly pulled more people out of their cells in the same reckless fashion. 

Outside of the inmate getting petty commissary restrictions, no measures were implemented to ensure such a guards behaved professionally; in fact, warden Michael Gruver, Assistant Warden Light, Major Bazan and Lieutenant Lakin became more callous and lax. Not only are they allowing guards to falsify records, Lakin, Bazan and other ranking staff sometimes falsify records themselves by signing forms suggesting that they did walk-throughs, when in fact all they did was sign forms, do a temperature check and head back to their office. 

Gruver is the same warden that has been sued many times, including for his involvement in the illegal gassing of Christopher Woolverton (who had a medical do not gas order) who was left on his cell for three days, where he eventually died. (1) I was at the Clements unit when it happened. 

Light was previously a Major at the Beto unit, where rumoring guards say he was promoted to warden and transferred here after several female staff accused him of stalking them in public. A person I’m in contact with told me a year ago that he’d stalked her at a restaurant, she took photos, filed a complaint and her husband, who Light had been targeting (Jackie Dwayne Wiley) was sent to another unit hours later and in the middle of the night, where he died after smoking something. Bazan is a naive young puppet that lower-ranking staff manipulate to go along with their program.

But what’s going on here now has gone on for decades.

In 2003 Freddy Hurley (who is still here) was shot in the neck with a spear by an inmate that guards used to assault those they didn’t like, while he was being escorted to get a haircut. (2) The officer that was supposed to assist with the escort was with the barber, while the other was closing Hurley’s cell door. Doomsday prophet Warren Jeffs was nearly killed when an inmate escaped his own cell and attacked Jeffs while he was being escorted. In 1985 in a different protective safekeeping unit ex TDCJ guard and Aryan Brotherhood sympathizer Troy W. Vaden was charged and convicted for his role in helping several inmates stab Armando Rodriguez as he was being escorted back to his cell. (3) 

So this is not an environment that is new to staff being complicit with helping inmates stab others; they are becoming more sophisticated and slick with how they assist. This administration is no different, and have proved that they are more than willing to sabotage events and manipulate paperwork to ensure that those willing to get violent keep the platform to continue doing so, while fooling the Executive and Regional Director into believing these environments are safe. An administration this corrupt needs to be exposed to the highest degree and dismantled, not be allowed to hide behind each other’s rank and procreated integrity. 

Jason Renard Walker 1532092 

Powledge unit 

PO Box 660400 

Dallas, Tx 75622 

sources: 

1) Woolverton v. Livingston, 2018 U.S. Dist. Lexis 158806 

2) Hurley v. Blevins, 2005 U.S. Dist Lexis 38514 

3) U.S. v. Vaden, 912 F.2d 780

Jason Renard Walker is a prison journalist that has published articles and essays in various print and online media outlets since 2016. His work can be viewed at: www.jasonsprisonjournal.com You can also purchase his paperback book ‘Reports From Within The Belly Of The Beast: Torture And Injustice Inside Texas Department Of Criminal Justice’ available on amazon.com