SUSANVILLE – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated person at High Desert State Prison (HDSP) as a homicide.
On Saturday, August 26, at approximately 8:18 p.m., two incarcerated people, Jesse E. Diaz and Jose A. Nava, allegedly attacked another incarcerated person, Alexander J. Jasso. An inmate-manufactured weapon was recovered at the scene.
Jasso sustained multiple stab wounds and was taken to an outside medical facility while life-saving measures were performed. He was pronounced deceased at 11:58 p.m. No staff or additional incarcerated people were injured.
Both suspects have been moved to restricted housing pending investigation into this case. Officials have limited population movement on the yard to facilitate the investigation being conducted by HDSP Investigative Services Unit, the Lassen County District Attorney’s Office and the Lassen County Coroner. The Office of the Inspector General was notified and the Lassen County Coroner will determine Jasso’s official cause of death.
Jasso, 33, was received from Monterey County on June 27, 2011, to serve life with the possibility of parole for attempted first-degree murder, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and discharge of a firearm in an inhabited dwelling, vehicle or aircraft. He received enhancements for street gang activity in commission of a serious felony.
Diaz, 32, was received from Monterey County on April 14, 2014, to serve life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. He also received enhancements for use of a firearm and street gang activity street gang activity in commission of a serious felony.
Nava, 29, was received from San Mateo County on October 16, 2017, to serve 23 years for attempted second-degree murder and discharge of a firearm in an inhabited dwelling, vehicle or aircraft. He also received enhancements for use of a firearm and street gang activity in commission of a serious felony.
HDSP, located in Lassen County, opened in 1995 and houses 2,507 minimum-, medium-, and maximum-custody inmates. The prison provides academic classes, vocational instruction, work assignments and rehabilitation programs and employs more than 1,200 people.
AH8635 Alexander J. Jasso
AT1471 Jesse E. Diaz
BE4665 Jose A. Nava
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 28, 2023
Contact: OPEC Press Office OPEC@cdcr.ca.gov