August 23, 2024 - SUSANVILLE – High Desert State Prison (HDSP) officials are investigating the death of Anthony R. Alvarez Jr. as a homicide after he was attacked by two other incarcerated persons on Aug. 21, 2024.

At approximately 5:45 p.m., officers responded when incarcerated persons Luis Alvarez and Vincent G. Martinez were attacking Anthony Alvarez in a dayroom. Staff quickly quelled the incident.

Staff immediately began life-saving measures on Anthony Alvarez, 29. He was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area for injuries he sustained from the attack and HDSP staff summoned emergency services. He was pronounced deceased at 6:23 p.m. Officers recovered two inmate-manufactured weapons.

Officials have limited movement on the yard where the attack occurred. Luis Alvarez and Martinez have been placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by HDSP Investigative Services Unit and the Lassen County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Lassen County Coroner will determine Anthony Alvarez’s official cause of death.

Anthony Alvarez was most recently received from Fresno County on July 30, 2021, sentenced to 10 years for attempted second-degree murder as a second striker.

Luis Alvarez, 30, was received from Santa Clara County on May 1, 2019, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder.

Vincent G. Martinez, 41, was received from Kings County on Sept. 19, 2014, sentenced to 22 years, four months for attempted second-degree murder, possession of a controlled substance for sale, and criminal threat to cause great bodily injury or death, with enhancements for Street Gang Act in commission of a serious felony.

Activated in 1995, HDSP is a high-security prison in Susanville that houses about 2,700 Level I – IV incarcerated individuals and employs about 1,700 staff. The institution houses those serving long-term sentences, those requiring specialized mental health programming, and incarcerated people with high-risk medical concerns. The institution also provides work, career technical education, academic, self-help, art, religious and other rehabilitative programs.