September 28, 2024 - CALIPATRIA – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are investigating the Sept. 26, 2024, death of condemned incarcerated person Alberto Martinez at Calipatria State Prison (CAL) as a homicide.
At approximately 1:23 p.m., staff observed incarcerated person Tyler A. Lua strike Martinez, knocking him to the ground and continuing to hit him. Lua stepped away, and Jorge D. Negrete-Larios and Luis J. Beltran began striking Martinez as he lay motionless. Staff quickly stopped the incident using pepper spray and one baton strike.
Staff immediately initiated emergency response and called 911. Medical staff performed life-saving measures on Martinez, who had injuries consistent with an incarcerated-manufactured weapon. He was transported to the prison’s triage and treatment area for a higher level of care. At 2:20 p.m. Martinez was pronounced deceased.
Two incarcerated-manufactured weapons were found at the scene. No staff or additional incarcerated individuals were injured.
Officials have limited movement on the yard where the alleged attack occurred. Lua, Negrete-Larios and Beltran have been placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the CAL 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 Martinez’s official cause of death.
Martinez, 46, was most recently received from Orange County on Aug. 17, 2010, placed on condemned status for first-degree murder. He was also sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for attempted first-degree murder with an enhancement for street gang activity and two years for street gang activity, to be served concurrent with the condemned sentence.
Lua, 25, was received from San Bernardino County on Jan. 31, 2019, sentenced to 19 years for attempted second-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm. While incarcerated, he was sentenced by Imperial County to two years for having a controlled substance in prison.
Negrete-Larios, 33, was received from Riverside County on July 5, 2016, sentenced to 32 years, four months for attempted second-degree murder with enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury, discharge of a firearm and street gang activity in commission of a violent felony.
Beltran, 31, was received from Los Angeles County on April 6, 2023, sentenced to life without parole for first-degree murder with enhancements for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury/death, and possessing/owning a firearm as a felon.
There is a total of 623 incarcerated people in CDCR with condemned sentences. More information about capital punishment in California can be found here: https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital-punishment/.
Calipatria State Prison provides a variety of academic, self-help and vocational programs that are certified by the National Center for Construction Education and Research. The Imperial County institution houses approximately 2,638 minimum- and maximum-security incarcerated people and employs approximately 1,200 people. At 184 feet below sea level, Calipatria is at the lowest elevation of any prison in the Western Hemisphere.
Source: CDCR
