An inmate at a maximum-security California prison inmate died Thursday and his cellmate is suspected in his death, authorities said.
Martin Aguilar, 27, was pronounced dead shortly before 9:30 a.m. after being found in his cell at Pelican Bay State Prison, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement.
His cellmate, Daniel Haro, “is the suspect in this case,” the statement said. It didn't provide other details about the death.
Aguilar was sent to prison from San Diego County in 2015 after being convicted of assault with a deadly weapon connected to a street gang, possession of a controlled substance and assault on peace officer or firefighter likely to cause cause great bodily injury. While in prison, Aguilar also was convicted of battery for two attacks on non-prisoners at separate facilities, state prison officials said.
Haro, 37, was sent to prison from San Diego County in 2014. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and other crimes.
Pelican Bay State Prison, located on the Northern California coast near the Oregon border, has about 2,200 inmates. I was designed to house California’s “most serious criminal offenders" and about half of the prison houses maximum security prisoners, according to the state corrections department website.
