FOLSOM- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are investigating the Feb. 23, death of an inmate at California State Prison, Sacramento, as a homicide.
At 1:21 p.m. Sunday, officers observed inmates Tyler L. Yates and Jake T. Kennedy attacking inmate Jonathan D. Rude on the main exercise yard. Staff responded immediately by firing a warning shot to halt the attack. Officers administered life-saving measures and activated 911. Rude was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area, where emergency medical personnel continued efforts until a paramedic pronounced him dead at 1:43 p.m.
Officers recovered two improvised weapons at the scene. No other injuries were reported, and officials have restricted movement on the yard to facilitate the investigation.
Yates and Kennedy have been placed in restricted housing pending investigations by the Sacramento Investigative Services Unit and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General has been notified, and the Sacramento County coroner will determine Rude’s official cause of death.
Rude, 39, was received from Butte County on Sept. 30, 2024, to serve four years for vehicle theft, with prior convictions for vehicle-related theft. Yates, 30, was received from San Diego County on Oct. 9, 2017, to serve eight years for first-degree burglary and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury as a second striker.
On Feb. 2, 2024, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder as a second striker and for an in-prison offense. Kennedy, 32, was received from San Bernardino County on Feb. 6, 2020, to serve six years for carrying a concealed dirk or dagger as a second striker. On Jan. 9, 2023, he was sentenced to four years for assault by a prisoner.
