FOLSOM – California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) officials are investigating the death of Mario Campbell, 36, as a homicide after he was attacked by two other inmates Wednesday evening.
At 5:07 p.m., officers responded when incarcerated persons Cody R. Taylor and David M. Gomez were attacking Campbell on the main exercise yard. Staff quickly quelled the incident with one application of chemical agents.
Campbell was immediately taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area for injuries he sustained from the attack. Staff summoned an ambulance, which transported him to an outside medical facility. Campbell was pronounced deceased at 6:27 p.m. by a hospital physician.
Officers recovered three improvised weapons at the scene of the attack. No other injuries were reported. Officials have limited movement on the yard where the attack occurred to facilitate the investigation.
Taylor and Gomez have been placed in restricted housing as SAC’s Investigative Services Unit continues its investigation. The Office of the Inspector General has been notified and the Sacramento County Coroner will determine cause of death.
Campbell was received from Sacramento County on Oct. 19, 2009, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for penetration with force against a victim’s will, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and assault with a firearm (each with an enhancement for use of a firearm); and sexual battery, false imprisonment, preventing/dissuading a victim/witness, possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a controlled substance.
Taylor, 32, was received from Ventura County on May 8, 2013, sentenced to six years, four months, for second-degree robbery and possession of a controlled substance and possession/manufacture of a deadly weapon by a prisoner, both second-strike offenses. He was most recently sentenced by Sacramento County to life with the possibility of parole on May 22, 2020, for attempted first-degree murder, first-degree murder and possession/manufacture of a deadly weapon by a prisoner, all third-strike offenses.
Gomez, 58, was received from Los Angeles County on April 14, 1998, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for rape/resist/force or violence, oral copulation with force and first-degree burglary, all third-strike offenses with enhancements for use of a firearm. He was most recently sentenced by Monterey County on Jan. 21, 2015, to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and assault by a life inmate/victim not killed, in-prison and third-strike offenses.
SAC opened in 1986 and houses more than 2,200 medium-, maximum-, and high-security incarcerated persons. SAC offers academic classes and vocational programs and employs approximately 1,500 people.
