May 17, 2024 - DELANO – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated person at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) as a homicide.

On Monday, May 13, 2024, at approximately 2:19 p.m., two incarcerated people, Andrew L. Espinoza and Frank Vasquez, allegedly attacked another incarcerated person, Raul E. Mendoza. Two inmate-manufactured weapons were recovered at the scene.

Mendoza sustained multiple puncture wounds and life-saving measures were performed. He was taken to an outside medical facility for a higher level of care where he remained until he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased on May 16 at 1:06 p.m. No staff or additional incarcerated people were injured.

Both suspects have been moved to restricted housing pending investigation into this case. Officials have limited population movement on the yard to facilitate the investigation being conducted by KVSP Investigative Services Unit, the Kern County District Attorney’s Office and the Kern County Coroner. The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Kern County Coroner will determine Mendoza’s official cause of death.

Mendoza, 30, was received from Los Angeles County on June 15, 2015, sentenced to two years, eight months for carrying a loaded firearm in public while active in a gang, a second-strike offense. He was also sentenced by Los Angeles County on Nov. 3, 2016, to 11 years for voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement for use of a firearm.

Espinoza, 29, was received from Los Angeles County on Feb. 8, 2023, sentenced to seven years, four months for carjacking and evading or attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly, both second-strike offenses.

Vasquez, 44, was received from Tulare County on Dec. 1, 2015, sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and second-degree robbery. He also received enhancements for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death.

KVSP opened in 2005 and houses more than 3,300 minimum-, medium-, maximum- and high-security incarcerated persons. KVSP offers academic classes and vocational programs and employs approximately 1,500 people.

Source: CDCR