Vacaville inmate death investigated as homicide

The death of a California Medical Facility inmate found in a pool of blood at the prison hospital in Vacaville on Monday is under investigation as a possible homicide, a prison spokesman said.

The 66-year-old inmate, who was not identified, was found unresponsive and facedown in a dormitory around 10:35 p.m., according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The inmate was pronounced dead at 11:14 p.m. No staff members at the medical facility were injured during the incident.

The inmate’s name is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin.

The inmate was received from Fresno County and was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and use of a firearm, as well as attempted second-degree murder with bodily injury, prison officials said.

The dormitory was sealed as a crime scene and the 30 inmates housed there have been transferred to the Administrative Segregation unit during the investigation by the facility’s Investigative Services.

The facility’s administrators have modified inmate movement during the ongoing investigation, prison officials said.

The Solano County coroner’s and district attorney’s offices and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Special Services Unit are also investigating the death.

The California Medical Facility in Vacaville houses approximately 2,600 minimum-, medium-, maximum- and high-security inmates and employs nearly 2,000 people.