Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) are investigating the death of a death row inmate at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano on Friday.
Convicted murderer Mario Renteria, 36, allegedly began beating fellow inmate Julian Mendez, 46, around 10:30 a.m. Friday, prompting prison staff to intervene.
Officers told them to get down, but the men refused, according to a CDCR press release obtained by Fox News Digital.
Chemical agents initially stopped the attack, but more than 30 more inmates rushed in and began striking Renteria.
Orders to stop were ignored, and staff used multiple blast grenades to quell the violence, according to CDCR.
Mendez suffered multiple wounds, and life-saving measures were immediately taken. He was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area, where a doctor pronounced him dead at 11:05 a.m.
Officials said an improvised weapon was discovered at the scene, but the type of weapon was unknown.
According to CDCR, Renteria remains in restricted housing pending further investigation.
Officials restricted population movement to allow the Kern County District Attorney’s Office and the prison’s Investigative Services Unit to conduct an investigation.
The Office of Inspector General has been notified, and the Kern County Coroner will determine Mendez’s official cause of death.
Mendez was received from Riverside County on December 2, 2004, according to CDCR records. In 2002, he received a condemned sentence for the first-degree murder of two teenagers.
According to CDCR, Renteria was taken into custody by Riverside County on April 27, 2022, and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder (a third strike offense) and arson.
Kern Valley State Prison opened in 2005 and currently houses over 3,100 inmates in minimum and high security custody.
