2 California inmates separated after prison slaying. Both caught with weapons previously

Two California prison inmates serving extended sentences because of crimes they committed in custody allegedly killed another inmate on Wednesday, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The department has not yet released the name of the inmate who was killed in the attack at High Desert State Prison in Susanville.

The department said the victim was assaulted before 3 p.m. on Wednesday in between general population yards. Prison staff saw two suspects carry out the attack, the department said.

Officers broke up the assault by using chemical agents, a term that usually refers to pepper spray.

The victim died later at a hospital. Officers retrieved two “inmate-manufactured weapons” from the scene of the attack, the department said.

The suspects, Roger Vasquez and Douglas Leon, have been placed in a separate housing area while correctional officers investigate the killing, the department said.

Vasquez, initially sentenced in May 2011 to 12 years for second-degree robbery with a 10-year enhancement for using a firearm, has had 12 years added to his sentence for crimes committed in prison. In March, he was sentenced to an additional eight years in confinement after being convicted in Lassen County of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a deadly weapon by prisoner.

Leon is serving a life sentence with an opportunity for parole after being convicted of murder in April 2011. He received an additional three-year sentence in April 2016 after being convicted in Lassen County of possessing or manufacturing a weapon as a prison inmate.

This story was originally published November 28, 2019 at 1:15 PM.