CALIPATRIA – Officials at Calipatria State Prison are investigating the death of an inmate that occurred on Sunday as a homicide.
On July 10 at 10:08 a.m., 22 inmates began fighting in two separate areas on the Facility C maximum-security general population yard. Correctional officers responded and nearly all of the inmates complied with their verbal orders to get down. However, two inmates stabbed a third inmate. The attackers complied with officers’ orders to stop and staff used no force to quell the incident.
Officers recovered four inmate-made weapons.
Staff immediately transported the inmate victim to the prison’s medical facility. He was later taken by ambulance to an outside hospital for treatment of several puncture wounds to his abdomen, chest, head and back. The inmate was pronounced deceased at 11 a.m.
His name is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification. He was 54 years old and had been in prison since January 17, 1989, serving a life-with-the-possibility-of-parole sentence from Los Angeles County for first-degree murder and second-degree robbery with the use of a firearm.
No staff were injured, but one another inmate suffered puncture wounds in his back during the incident. He was airlifted to a local hospital for treatment and is expected to recover.
The injured inmate is 25 years old and was admitted from Los Angeles County on February 26, 2015, to serve 34 years for attempted murder.
Calipatria State Prison’s Investigative Services Unit is identifying the suspects in the attack and conducting the investigation. The Imperial Valley District Attorney’s Office is also assisting with the investigation.
Calipatria State Prison opened in 1992. The prison houses 3,786 minimum- and maximum-security inmates. The prison offers academic classes and vocational programs and employs 1,047 people. For more information, visit www.cdcr.ca.gov.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2016
CONTACT: LT. EVERARDO SILVO, (760) 348-6002
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