Memorial grows for detention officer Isaiah Bias murdered by Ellis County inmate
ELLIS COUNTY — At the Ellis County Sheriff's Office there's a growing memorial for detention officer Isaiah Bias.
Most stopping by didn't know Isaiah Bias but felt they needed to be there.
"We're just born and raised here in the community, we're local," Ryan Blevins said. "Our thoughts and prayers are involved with everyone in the situation."
Ryan Blevins, and his wife, Rachel, came to show their respects.
"We thank guys and girls like him every day for just keeping our community safe," Blevins said. "He was just here another day to come to work and unfortunately, the circumstances that happened to him weren't good."
The 28-year-old detention officer wanted to work in law enforcement since he was in grade school, even joining the sheriff's explorer program.
Sheriff Brad Norman said while on duty Monday, Bias was murdered by inmate Aaron Thompson.
The 45-year-old has extensive prior criminal history and was in jail for assaulting a peace officer and evading arrest.
According to arrest documents, he was on his "one hour of recreation time outside his cell and Officer Bias was going to put him back into his cell" on Monday.
The documents said Thompson then physically assaulted Bias, striking him in the head, choking him, then striking him again multiple times.
"I feel terrible," Tabitha Pennon said. "I hate that."
Pennon, Thomson's cousin, does not condone what happened. She said she started noticing her cousin had mental health issues after he was released from prison.
Pennon said in prison Thompson spent five years in solitary confinement, with a one-hour break a day.
"I mean if you're confined for 23 hours, get out for an hour, and if that's not messing with your mind, I don't know what it is," she said. "I would just across the board like to see more mental health staff in the prisons and in the jails."
The Texas Rangers are continuing to investigate the circumstances of what happened. Thompson has been charged with capital murder. His bond is set at $2 million.
