Report: Suspect in cellmate's death known to be dangerous

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A state prison inmate accused of killing his 18-year-old cellmate on the victim's first night behind bars had been deemed too dangerous to share a cell with anyone, but guards allegedly missed warning signs, according to a newspaper report Monday.

When Gary Avila arrived at Wasco State Prison in Kern County two months ago convicted of being a gang member in possession of a gun, he was ushered into a cell occupied by a 33-year-old career criminal with a history of psychiatric problems.

When dawn broke Avila was dead, a bloody bedsheet looped around his neck.

"Yeah, I did it," his cellmate, Paul Posada, allegedly told a prison lieutenant minutes after the discovery. "He messed up."

Prison documents, interviews and court records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times show that prison guards allegedly missed warning signs that Posada posed a threat, and may have violated prison policy by placing Avila in his cell.

The Times also found that prison officials withheld potential evidence from the district attorney. Family members of the victim also complain that they have not been told details of Avila's death.

Prison spokesman John Katavich defended the institution's handling of the case, but acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding Avila's death may prompt a change in policy regarding background checks on arriving inmates.

A check of a Department of Corrections database would have revealed that Posada had "single cell status" and was not to be housed with other inmates. But under current policy, Katavich said, the database is not checked during the initial screening process.

There were other warnings too, the Times said.

On the day Avila was killed, Posada had been transferred from the Kern Jail after having been sentenced to eight more years in prison for spitting in a guard's face at Tehachapi State Prison.

Posada was regarded as a "high-risk" prisoner and was separated from other inmates, Sgt. Gary Knox said. Knox said paperwork documenting Posada's security status and mental health problems was forwarded to Wasco prison.

Katavich denied that county jailers sent documentation regarding Posada being a security risk.

And just hours before Avila was killed, Posada's first cellmate, Rufus Hernandez, was removed from the cell after allegedly complaining to a guard that Posada was crazy, according to a prison report documenting an interview with Hernandez.

The interview was conducted Sept. 29, but the prison did not send the report to prosecutors pursuing a murder case against Posada until they learned about it and requested it, the Times said.

"This information was deemed not necessary for inclusion (in the original report)," said a memo from the prison lieutenant who interviewed Hernandez.

Avila was arrested last summer in connection with two incidents involving guns. In July, he allegedly flashed a gun to threaten a boy he believed was from a rival gang. Two weeks later, police allegedly found him carrying a .357 revolver.

Avila pleaded guilty to being a gang member in possession of a concealed weapon, a relatively low-level offense by state prison standards. He was given a two-year sentence.

His cellmate, by contrast, had the resume of a classic career criminal, including convictions for burglary, car theft, kidnapping, battery on a peace officer and assault with a deadly weapon.

Posada was most recently sent to prison for violating parole after he was arrested for being under the influence of drugs last year. In June he was charged with assault after spitting in the face of a guard.

At a court hearing, Posada "acted in a bizarre manner," prompting the judge to order him to be examined by doctors to determine his competency to stand trial, according to court documents.

Posada failed two tests but passed a third and was approved for release from the hospital. A few days later he was on a bus to Wasco prison.

There are no known witnesses to what took place in cell 233 that night. An autopsy found that Avila had been strangled. Posada has been charged with murder and is back in a prison psychiatric facility, for the fourth time.