A California death row inmate was killed by fellow prisoners on Thursday, the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Alberto Martinez, 46, was beaten and struck with “incarcerated-manufactured weapons” in the attack carried out by Tyler A. Lua, Jorge D. Negrete-Larios, and Luis J. Beltran, officials said in a news release.
Staff “quickly stopped the incident” with pepper spray and a baton strike and performed “life-saving measures” on Martinez, who was pronounced dead about an hour later.
“Two incarcerated-manufactured weapons were found at the scene,” corrections authorities stated. “No staff or additional incarcerated individuals were injured.”
All three accused perpetrators have since been placed on restricted housing units pending investigation, and the Imperial County Coroner will determine Martinez’s official cause of death.
Martinez was a member of a Mexican mafia who was so powerful that he allegedly orchestrated murders from inside prison while using a contraband cell phone, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Though California has not carried out an execution since 2006, he was placed on “condemned status” for first-degree murder and also had a life sentence for attempted first-degree murder with an enhancement for street gang activity and two years for street gang activity, the news release said.
The three inmates suspected of killing Martinez are also hardened criminals, corrections officials said:
Lua, 25, was received from San Bernardino County on Jan. 31, 2019, sentenced to 19 years for attempted second-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm. While incarcerated, he was sentenced by Imperial County to two years for having a controlled substance in prison.
Negrete-Larios, 33, was received from Riverside County on July 5, 2016, sentenced to 32 years, four months for attempted second-degree murder with enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury, discharge of a firearm and street gang activity in commission of a violent felony.
Beltran, 31, was received from Los Angeles County on April 6, 2023, sentenced to life without parole for first-degree murder with enhancements for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury/death, and possessing/owning a firearm as a felon.
Shortly after his inauguration in 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed an executive order imposing a moratorium on the death penalty and ordered the dismantling of the state’s execution chambers at San Quentin State Prison.
A total of 623 inmates remain on condemned sentences in the state, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.