A guy who was locked up at Kern Valley State Prison is said to have been killed, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is looking into it.
Police say that Raul E. Mendoza, 30, from Los Angeles County, was beaten up in jail on May 13. Andrew L. Espinoza, 29, and Frank Vasquez, 44, are accused of using two homemade weapons to attack Mendoza.
Multiple puncture wounds were caused by the attack, and Mendoza was taken to a nearby medical center by emergency workers. Three days after getting hurt, he died.
Both suspects have been put in restricted housing while the investigation continues. Prison officials are still waiting for the doctor to give them an official cause of death for Mendoza.
Mendoza had been in jail for a long time. He was sent to Kern Valley Prison on June 15, 2015, after getting two years and eight months in prison for a second-strike crime of carrying a loaded gun in public while being a member of a gang.
After being found guilty, the 30-year-old was given an extra 11 years in prison for using a gun while committing the crime in L.A. County on November 3, 2016.
Since February of last year, Espinosa has been in state jail. For carjacking and evading or trying to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly in L.A. County, the 29-year-old got seven years and four months in prison.
Vasquez has been in the facility since December 1, 2015, when he was given a life term without the chance of parole for first-degree murder and second-degree theft. He also got extra time for firing a gun on purpose, which hurt or killed someone seriously.
The reason for the claimed attack is still being looked into.
Cal Matters, a nonprofit news group, says that more than 150 prisoners died in California prisons last year.
