Inmate Incarcerated For San Diego County Crime Dies In Suspected Prison Homicide

SAN DIEGO, CA — A state prison inmate incarcerated for a San Diego County assault died in prison last weekend and his death was being investigated as a homicide, state prison officials said Tuesday.

Francisco A. Perez, 32, was found unresponsive during a security check in his cell at California State Prison, Los Angeles County at around 1:45 a.m. Saturday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

He was pronounced dead about a half-hour later.

Perez's cellmate, Juan R. Saucedo, 45, has been placed in restricted housing pending an investigation, according to the CDCR, which did not state how Perez is believed to have died or why his death is being investigated as a homicide.

In 2016, Perez was given a 14-year sentence out of San Diego County for assault with a deadly weapon, plus an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury. He was also sentenced in San Diego County earlier in 2016 for battery on emergency personnel and in 2010 in Kern County for resisting or deterring an officer with threat or violence while in prison.

Saucedo was sentenced in 2020 in Los Angeles County to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder. He was also sentenced in San Luis Obispo County in 2023 to four years for possession of a controlled substance while in prison.

— City News Service