July 23, 2024 - IMPERIAL – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated person at Centinela State Prison (CEN) as a homicide.
On Sunday, July 21, 2024, at approximately 8:05 p.m., officers observed three incarcerated individuals, Cristian Moreno, Johnny S. Garcia and Christian O. Hernandez, allegedly attacking another incarcerated person, Ezequiel Romo, in a dayroom. Staff immediately responded, issuing verbal orders to stop; however, it required four applications of pepper spray to quell the attack. Two inmate-manufactured weapons were recovered at the scene.
Romo sustained multiple stab wounds and was taken to an on-site medical facility while lifesaving measures were performed. He was pronounced deceased at 9:52 p.m.
The three suspects have been moved to restricted housing pending investigation into this case by CEN’s Investigative Services Unit and the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General was notified and the Imperial County Coroner will determine Romo’s official cause of death. No staff or additional incarcerated people were injured.
Romo, 47, was received from Los Angeles County on Aug. 30, 2023. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and attempted conspiracy to commit second-degree murder, all third-strike offenses.
Moreno, 31, was received from Los Angeles County on Aug. 14, 2015. He was sentenced to 20 years, four months for escape from county jail/prison with force, criminal threat to cause great bodily injury/death, and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, all second-strike offenses.
Garcia, 39, was received from Los Angeles County on Sept. 2, 2009. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for attempted second-degree murder, first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and first-degree robbery in concert/inhabited dwelling and kidnap/ransom/extortion with enhancements for use of a firearm. On Aug. 30, 2018, he was sentenced to eight years for an in-prison offense of assault with a deadly weapon, a second-strike offense.
Hernandez, 41, was received from Los Angeles County on April 5, 2006. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder. On Nov. 30, 2021, he was sentenced to two years for bringing a controlled substance/alcohol on the grounds of a penal institution, an in-prison offense.
CEN opened in 1993 and houses approximately 3,000 incarcerated people. It is located near the town of Imperial in Southern California. CEN offers academic classes, vocational programs, rehabilitative programs, medical services and mental health treatment, religious services, work assignments and self-help groups, and employs approximately 1,200 people.
Source: CDCR
