FOLSOM – Authorities are investigating the death of an incarcerated man at California State Prison, Sacramento in Folsom as a homicide after officers discovered him with multiple stab wounds early Friday morning.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), prison staff found Jake T. Kennedy, 32, injured inside his cell during a routine security check at 6:13 a.m. His cellmate, Tyler L. Yates, was immediately restrained and removed.
Medical personnel performed life-saving measures, and Kennedy was transported to the prison’s triage and treatment area. A paramedic pronounced him dead at 7:04 a.m. No other inmates or staff were injured in the incident. Officials recovered an improvised weapon at the scene.
Yates, 30, remains in restricted housing as investigators examine the case. The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the prison’s Investigative Services Unit are conducting the investigation, while the Office of the Inspector General has been notified. The Sacramento County Coroner will determine Kennedy’s official cause of death.
Yates was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder as a second-strike offense. He was originally convicted in San Diego County in 2017 for first-degree burglary and assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury. Kennedy, who was most recently incarcerated from San Bernardino County, was serving a combined 10-year sentence for weapons and assault convictions, both classified as second-strike offenses.
On Feb. 24, Kennedy and Yates were both reportedly being investigated for being involved in an incident involving the death of inmate, Jonathan Rude, 39, in the prison’s main exercise yard. Thr CdCR reported immediately after that deadly attack, Kennedy and Yates were placed in restricted housing. It’s not clear if they were still in restricted housing at the time of the stabbing.
