January 7, 2024 - SOLEDAD—The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is investigating the Jan. 6, 2024, death of an incarcerated person at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) as a homicide.

At approximately 11:40 AM, officers found incarcerated person Son Tran unresponsive in his assigned cell. An ambulance was summoned while staff performed life-saving measures on Tran. He was pronounced deceased at 12:17 PM by the responding medical staff.

Incarcerated person John Lydon was observed entering and leaving Tran’s cell and is considered a suspect.

Lydon has been placed in restricted housing, and population movement has been limited. An investigation continues by SVSP’s Investigative Services Unit and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Monterey County Coroner will determine Tran’s official cause of death.

No staff members or additional incarcerated people were injured as a result of this incident.

Tran, 53, was sentenced to CDCR on Jan. 19, 1999, from Orange County to serve a 50-year to life sentence with the possibility of parole for kidnap/rape/oral copulation/sodomy and assault with intent to commit a specific sex offense. He was transferred to CDCR custody on Jan. 24, 2001.

Lydon, 50, was sentenced to CDCR on Jun. 21, 2001, from Los Angeles County to serve 25 years to life for attempted murder. While incarcerated, Lydon was sentenced for two separate counts of murder on another incarcerated person and is serving life without the possibility of parole for those crimes. He was transferred to CDCR custody on Aug. 23, 2001.

SVSP opened in May 1996 in Monterey County. The institution provides long-term housing for 2,950 minimum- and maximum-custody male inmates and employs approximately 1,600 people. For more information, visit www.cdcr.ca.gov.

Source: CDCR