California prison officials are investigating the death of an inmate at Kern Valley State Prison as a homicide, the state announced May 16.
Two inmates at the central California prison allegedly attacked inmate Raul Mendoza, 30, using improvised weapons at about 2:20 p.m. May 13, according to an announcement by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Mr. Mendoza received multiple puncture wounds, prison officials said. After life-saving measures were performed at the scene, he was taken to an outside medical facility for a higher level of care. He died of his injuries at 1:06 p.m. May 16.
The weapons were recovered at the scene, officials reported.
The suspects, Andrew Espinoza, 29, and Frank Vasquez, 44, were moved to a restricted housing unit during the investigation by the prison, the county district attorney’s office, and the county coroner.
Mr. Mendoza was serving a two-year, eight-month sentence for carrying a loaded firearm in public while active in a gang. He was also sentenced by Los Angeles County in 2016 to 11 years for voluntary manslaughter with a firearm.
Mr. Espinoza began a sentence of more than seven years in 2023 for carjacking and evading a peace officer while driving recklessly.
Mr. Vasquez was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and second-degree robbery in 2015.
