Inmate death at High Desert State Prison leads to homicide investigation

The Lassen County Sheriff’s Office and the High Desert State Prison Investigative Services Unit are investigating the death of an inmate as a homicide. Juan Boyzo, 25, died on Monday after being attacked and stabbed, according to a press release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Authorities said that around 8 p.m. on Monday, Boyzo was attacked and stabbed by two inmates with inmate-made weapons in a day room in the High Desert State Prison in Susanville. Correctional officers stopped the attack using three exact-impact rounds, the press release said.

Boyzo was transported to an outside hospital by ambulance for treatment of puncture wounds to his head and back, lacerations and abrasions, but was pronounced dead at 9:48 p.m.

Boyzo was serving a 12-year sentence for second-degree robbery and a street gang act in commission of a violent felony. He had been transferred from Monterey County in April of 2014.

The authorities currently have two suspects, Joseph Gama, 22, and Joseph Sua, 29, who are being held in short-term restricted housing units on administrative segregation status pending investigation, the press release said.

Gama is serving a 15-year sentence in High Desert State Prison for assault with a firearm inflicting great bodily injury and a street gang act in commission of a violent felony from Stanislaus County. Sua, from Merced County, is serving a seven-year sentence for possession of a controlled substance in jail or prison.

The Office of the Inspector General was notified.

The High Desert State Prison houses 3,380 inmates and employs more than 1,200 people.