The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is investigating the death of an inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison as a homicide.
On Thursday evening, staff responded to a medical emergency call and found Rene B. Lopez unresponsive inside a housing unit.
Officials said Lopez was taken to the prison's medical clinic, where he was pronounced dead. No staff members were injured.
A review of surveillance video allegedly showed inmates Joseph W. Morales and Richard Garcia working together to attack Lopez.
Investigators say Morales and Garcia then handed improvised weapons to Estevan Saucedo, who allegedly threw the weapons into a garbage can. Staff later recovered the weapons.
Officials said two other inmates, Jose D. Rodriguez and Freddie G. Sanchez, were also involved in the incident.
All five suspects were placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the Pelican Bay State Prison Investigative Services Unit and the Del Norte County District Attorney's Office.
The inmates allegedly involved in the attack are serving sentences for the following convictions:
- Lopez, 31, arrived from Los Angeles County on April 8, 2013, and is serving a 29-year sentence for assault with a semiautomatic firearm, with enhancements for street gang activity, inflicting great bodily injury and use of a firearm.
- Morales 40, was most recently received from Riverside County on April 30, 2019, and is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder, with an enhancement for personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon, along with assault with a deadly weapon and related charges.
- Garcia, 52, was most recently received from San Luis Obispo County on July 31, 1997, and is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder as a second-strike offense, with enhancements for a prior serious felony conviction and use of a deadly weapon. He was also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon as a third striker.
- Saucedo, 30, arrived from Los Angeles County on Feb. 12, 2020, and is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, with an enhancement for intentionally discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury or death, as well as attempted second-degree murder.
- Rodriguez, 28, arrived from Los Angeles County on April 18, 2025, and is serving a 31-year sentence for attempted second-degree murder with a firearm discharge enhancement and voluntary manslaughter.
- Sanchez, 35, arrived from Los Angeles County on Feb. 8, 2013, and is serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and second-degree burglary, with firearm-related enhancements.
