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‘I am praying for you all': Texas detention officer forgives juveniles who beat her while escaping jail

Christy Galindo, beaten with her radio, suffered significant injuries but expressed hope for the juveniles’ futures from her hospital bed

By Amy McDaniel
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

FORT WORTH, Texas — A detention officer is in the ICU of a Fort Worth hospital after she was severely beaten by three teenage inmates who escaped from a North Texas juvenile facility, according to her family.

The guard, Christy Galindo, “was attacked by the 3 young men & experienced trauma to her head,” during the escape at the Lake Granbury Youth Services jail on Sunday, Dec. 15, Galindo’s cousin wrote on a GoFundMe page.

Galindo is a single mother of two children and the GoFundMe will raise money for her medical bills, her cousin said.

In an interview from her hospital bed, Galindo told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV that she forgives the teens who attacked her.

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“Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased, the staff at Marcy who witnessed this horrific action, and those who knew and worked with this person,” DOCCS said
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“I don’t remember everything,” she said. “But I know that I was hit in the head with my radio. I know there were some blows to my head and trauma to my head, and I was completely out of it after that point.”

She suffered bruises and a fracture to her lower eye and needed stitches near her eye and staples in the back of her head, she told WFAA.

“What happened to me, it did hurt, but they’ve made a mistake,” Galindo told WFAA. “I forgive you all, and I am praying for you all. I hope that God fulfills the love in the areas that they lack and that they get the love that they need and succeed in the areas they need to moving forward.”

The three inmates, who also assaulted another guard, were arrested the day after the escape, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a news release. The two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old stole two vehicles and several guns and committed an armed robbery at a gas station in Dublin before they were found, authorities said.

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