A convicted assassin was killed this week in an assault by different inmates at a Southern California jail, authorities mentioned.
Workers at Calipatria State Jail in Imperial County witnessed the beating dying of Alberto Martinez, 46, within the jail yard on Thursday, authorities mentioned.
Inmate Tyler A. Lua struck him, knocked him to the bottom and continued to hit him, the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation mentioned in a information launch.
Two different inmates, Jorge D. Negrete-Larios and Luis J. Beltran, started hitting Martinez as he lay immobile, and employees “stopped the incident utilizing pepper spray and one baton strike,” the division mentioned.
The division mentioned Martinez had “accidents per an incarcerated-manufactured weapon,” and two such weapons had been discovered the place the assault occurred.
Medical employees tried to deal with Martinez’s accidents, however he died inside an hour. Jail officers say they’re investigating his dying as a murder.
The Imperial County Coroner will decide the precise explanation for dying.
Martinez had been sentenced to dying in 2010 after being convicted of first-degree homicide for his position in abducting and killing a person in alternate for fee from the person’s sister.
Martinez described himself in court docket as an affiliate of the Mexican Mafia. He was featured in a 2023 Los Angeles Instances article detailing how members of the prison-based crime syndicate use smuggled cellphones to gather cash and order murders on metropolis streets.
Although Martinez was initially on dying row, he was among the many condemned prisoners who had been moved to the final inhabitants after Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019.
In line with the Division of Corrections, Martinez was additionally serving a life sentence for tried first-degree homicide, in addition to one other two-year sentence for road gang exercise.
The three inmates who had been concerned had been “positioned in restricted housing” pending an investigation, the division mentioned.
Lua and Negrete-Larios are each serving sentences for tried second-degree homicide and different convictions. Beltran was sentenced in 2023 to life in jail for first-degree homicide.
