State Prison Officials Announce Another Inmate Death Allegedly Tied To Prisoners From IE

SOLEDAD, CA — State correctional officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated man as a homicide after two inmates sentenced out of the Inland Empire allegedly attacked him with an improvised weapon in a recreation yard at Salinas Valley State Prison, authorities announced Tuesday.

It was the second prison death announced over the last week involving inmates sentenced out of the Inland Empire.

In the Salinas Valley State Prison case, the victim, 43-year-old Michael Loftin, was pronounced dead at 1:19 p.m. Monday following the attack at the facility in Soledad, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Correctional staff observed inmates Dillon King, 28, and Justin Learmont, 44, approach Loftin in the prison yard around 12:50 p.m. and begin battering him with an improvised weapon, officials said. Staff intervened to end the assault, handcuffed both suspects, and recovered the weapon at the scene.

Medical staff initiated life-saving measures and called 911, but an institutional physician pronounced Loftin dead about 30 minutes later. No staff injuries were reported.

King was admitted to the state prison system from Riverside County in June 2021 to serve a seven-year sentence for second-degree robbery, attempted first-degree burglary, and receiving stolen property. While in custody, he received an additional two-year sentence out of Riverside County in March 2024 for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.

Learmont was received from San Bernardino County in March 2010 to serve a life sentence with the possibility of parole for attempted second-degree murder and assault with a firearm. In 2016, he received an additional 17-year sentence in Monterey County for an in-prison assault with a deadly weapon.

The victim, Loftin, was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole out of Del Norte County following a November 2020 conviction for first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement.

King and Learmont have been placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the prison's Investigative Services Unit and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. State officials also notified the Office of the Inspector General.

Salinas Valley State Prison, located in Monterey County, houses approximately 2,300 minimum- and maximum-custody inmates and employs about 1,500 staff.

In a separate incident, an inmate sentenced out of Riverside County for second-degree murder was among five state prisoners under investigation in connection with the Sept. 17 fatal stabbing of an incarcerated man at Pelican Bay State Prison, state correctional officials announced.

Joseph W. Morales, 40, who was convicted in 2019 and later sentenced in Riverside County to life with the possibility of parole, allegedly worked alongside four other inmates to carry out the attack that left 31-year-old Rene B. Lopez dead.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, staff responded to a housing unit around 6 p.m. after finding Lopez unresponsive. Paramedics pronounced Lopez dead at the prison clinic less than an hour later at 6:53 p.m. No staff members were injured during the incident.

A review of the prison’s video surveillance system revealed that Morales and another inmate, Richard Garcia, 52, worked together to attack Lopez, officials said. Surveillance footage also captured the pair handing two improvised weapons to inmate Estevan Saucedo, 30, who allegedly tossed them into a trash can where staff later recovered them.

Further review of the footage implicated two additional inmates, Jose D. Rodriguez, 28, and Freddie G. Sanchez, 35, in the deadly assault.

Morales was most recently admitted to the state prison system from Riverside County on April 30, 2019, following a conviction for second-degree murder with an enhancement for personal use of a dangerous weapon, along with multiple assault offenses. While in custody, Morales received additional time out of Riverside County for possessing and manufacturing a deadly weapon as an inmate, vehicle theft, and possession of controlled substances in jail.

The victim, Lopez, had been serving a 29-year sentence from Los Angeles County since 2013 for assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

All five suspects have been moved to restricted housing while the prison’s Investigative Services Unit and the Del Norte County District Attorney’s Office conduct a homicide investigation. Authorities have also notified the Office of the Inspector General and temporarily limited movement in Pelican Bay State Prison's Housing Unit A.

Located in Crescent City near the Oregon border, the prison houses more than 2,100 minimum-, medium-, and maximum-security inmates.