March 8, 2025 – DELANO, CA – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating the March 7, 2025, death of an incarcerated person at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) as a homicide.
At 5:47 p.m., officers observed incarcerated persons Gilbert Garcia and Rodolfo Cortez attacking another incarcerated person, German M. Merino, in the dayroom. Staff immediately responded, stopping the attack. Officers initiated life-saving measures and activated 911. Merino was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area, where emergency medical personnel continued administering life-saving measures. A paramedic pronounced Merino dead at 6:22 p.m.
Officers recovered one improvised weapon at the scene. No other injuries were reported. The facility has been placed on a 24-hour threat assessment to facilitate the investigation.
Garcia and Cortez have been placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the Investigative Services Unit and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office.
The Office of the Inspector General has been notified, and the Kern County Coroner will determine Merino’s official cause of death.
Merino, 37, was most recently received from Los Angeles County on May 2, 2012, for first-degree murder and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Garcia, 43, was received from Los Angeles County on Feb. 19, 2024, for one count of assault with a deadly weapon and is serving an 11-year sentence.
Cortez, 33, was received from Los Angeles County on Dec. 19, 2012, for two counts of second-degree robbery, one count of carjacking, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer. He is serving a 24-year sentence.
KVSP is a Level IV facility consisting of four semi-autonomous 180 designed facilities and two stand-alone Restricted Housing Units, all surrounded by a Lethal Electrified Perimeter Fence.
There is also a Level I Minimum Support Facility. It is on 600 acres. KVSP received Level I’s in June 2005 and Level IV’s in July 2005.
Source & photos: CDCR
