He went to prison for raping a child — days later, an inmate killed him, Calif. police say

Agustin Duran, a convicted child molester, had a good chance of spending the rest of his life behind bars.

The 66-year-old had recently been convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old, according to KATU. He faced 55 years to life behind bars with the possibility of parole.

But Duran didn’t spend much time behind bars. That’s because another inmate, 19-year-old Andres Ayon, beat the man to death just days after Duran arrived at the Wasco State Prison in California, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Ayon began punching Duran in the face and upper chest at around 7:20 p.m. on July 7, authorities say, and didn’t stop when prison guards turned on an alarm.

Ayon, sentenced to six years for use of a deadly weapon and second-degree robbery, finally stopped beating Duran once prison staff used pepper spray to break up the attack, authorities say. Duran was airlifted to a hospital while Ayon was handcuffed and put in a holding cell.

Duran died just before 5 p.m. the following day. He had arrived to the prison six days before he was declared dead.

The Wasco State Prison, open since 1991, holds just under 5,000 inmates and another 1,500 employees.

This story was originally published July 12, 2018 at 8:05 AM.