25-year-old prisoner's death investigated as homicide
VACAVILLE, Calif. - An inmate found dead in a prison in Vacaville is being investigated as a homicide, the state's Department of Corrections said Thursday.
Darian Hernandez, 25, was found unresponsive in his cell around 8:10 p.m. Wednesday at the California State Prison, Solano, while officers were making their security rounds. Emergency services were called to the scene and tried to save Hernandez's life, but Hernandez succumbed to his injuries around 8:50 p.m.
Hernandez's cellmate, 23-year-old Jonathan Perez, was taken from the cell and placed in restricted housing as the prison investigators and the Solano County District Attorney's office probed over the case.
Officials didn't specify what injuries Hernandez had or name any suspects in his death.
Hernandez was arrested in Monterey County in February 2018 and was sentenced to 12 years for assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury as part of a street gang act, carrying a loaded firearm in public with a prior felony conviction, and assault with a firearm conspiracy as a part of a street gang act in the commission of a serious felony.
While imprisoned, he received an additional four years for an in-prison offense of an assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to inflict great bodily injury.
His cellmate Perez was arrested in Ventura County in January 2021 and sentenced to 15 years for assault with a semiautomatic weapon and the use of a firearm to inflict great bodily injury.
