San Quentin Death Row Inmate Fatally Stabbed In Exercise Yard
SAN QUENTIN (CBS SF) -- A death row inmate from Southern California was fatally stabbed by a fellow inmate on an exercise yard at San Quentin State Prison, authorities announced Friday.
Prison officials said Jonathan Fajardo, 30, suffered chest and neck wounds from an inmate-made weapon while on the East Block Housing Unit recreation yard complex at 9:55 a.m. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
The suspect in the attack, authorities said, has been identified as condemned inmate Luis Rodriguez, 34.
Fajardo was admitted from Los Angeles County on May 2, 2011, with a death sentence for two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and seven consecutive life sentences.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez was admitted from Los Angeles County on Aug. 22, 2008, to serve a life-with-parole sentence for first-degree murder.
While incarcerated, he was sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on Sept. 21, 2015, for two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances. He began serving his death sentence on Sept. 30, 2015.
The case is being investigated as a homicide by the prison's Investigative Services Unit and the Marin County District Attorney's Office has been contacted. The Office of the Inspector General was also notified of the incident.
San Quentin State Prison, California's oldest prison, opened in 1852, houses 4,398 inmates.
Since 1978, when California reinstated capital punishment, 78 condemned inmates have died from natural causes, 25 have committed suicide, 13 have been executed in California, one was executed in Missouri, one was executed in Virginia, and 10 have died from other causes. There are currently 742 offenders on California's death row.