By Sarah Sinning
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Surveillance video showing a brutal attack on a Guilford County detention officer last summer has been released, Fox 8 reports.
The July 2021 attack left Officer Sheldon Kaminsky, 72, on a ventilator for nearly two weeks; he spent a total of 46 days hospitalized. Inmate Elijah Evans, 21, was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for the assault in January.
“I’m glad he got the max, but it’s still really not enough,” said Kaminsky’s wife, Candy. “The assault on my husband could have easily killed him. It’s only the grace of God that Sheldon is still with us today.”
According to Assistant District Attorney Chris Parrish, the assault occurred when Officer Kaminsky didn’t let Evans back into his cell quickly enough after a shower. Evans then became agitated and threatened the veteran officer.
“Mister Evans indicated that Officer Kaminsky told him that ‘I’m not scared of you’ and Mister Evans then told him ‘I’m going to kill you,’” Parrish said.
It was shortly after this exchange, Parrish said, that Evans rushed behind the desk where Kaminsky was working and repeatedly hit him in the face with a closed fist.
“Mister Kaminsky lands on the ground and at that point, Mister Evans begins to viciously beat him and you can tell from the video that Mister Kaminsky is not aware, he is unconscious,” Parrish said.
Parrish told Fox 8 that it was the worst assault on a corrections officer he has ever seen.
“Mister Evans indicated that he had no regrets for what he’d done after he was interviewed,” Parrish said.
While Evans’ sentencing helped bring closure, Kaminsky’s wife said, her husband’s life will never be the same.
“We will deal with it,” she said. “Our lives will go on just not in the manner we originally had planned.”