2 Accused Of Strangling Main Jail Cellmate: Charges To Be Filed

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Two men in custody at the Santa Cruz County Mail Jail have been accused of murdering their cellmate, and detectives are working with the District Attorney’s Office to file charges.

Mario Lozano, 33, of Santa Cruz and Jason Cortez, 25, of Watsonville are suspected of strangling 24-year-old German Carrillo sometime between midnight and early morning on October 13, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday.

Carillo was discovered dead in his cell around 11 a.m. October 14, the sheriff's office said.

Lozano, Cortez and Carrillo shared a cell in a housing unit designated for active gang members, according to the sheriff's office. Lozano has been in custody since August 2018 on murder charges. Cortez has been in custody since January 2019 on felony weapons charges.

Although the sheriff's office publicly identified Lozano and Cortez as the two inmates who shared a cell with Carrillo when he was found dead, the case was deemed a "probable homicide" prior to Wednesday's announcement.

A Watsonville resident, Carrillo had been in custody at Main Jail since April of 2013. He was being held on suspicion of murder. He was initially charged as a 17-year-old and was one of multiple defendants in the beating and stabbing death of Felipe Reyes in Watsonville, county prosecutors said.