California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated person at California State Prison, Sacramento as a homicide.
On Sunday at 9:10 a.m., officers observed incarcerated person Gregory Roach, Ronald Ricks and Gregg Reynolds allegedly attack incarcerated person Randy Schlaepfer. Staff immediately responded and gave multiple orders to get down, then used pepper spray and an instantaneous blast grenade to quell the scene.
Medical staff quickly provided aid and called 911. Schlaepfer suffered from multiple stab wounds and was pronounced deceased at 9:46 a.m. by Folsom Fire Department paramedics. Medical personnel examined the other incarcerated people involved and transferred Ricks to an outside medical facility, where he is in fair condition. No other SAC staff or incarcerated people were injured.
Two inmate-manufactured weapons were found at the scene.
Roach and Reynolds were placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by CSP Sacramento Investigative Services Unit and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Sacramento County Coroner will determine Schlaepfer’s official cause of death.
Schlaepfer, 55, was received from Tulare County on March 15, 1989, to serve a one-year and four-month sentence for second-degree robbery. On May 5, 1995, he was once again received from Tulare County to serve life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder. While incarcerated he was sentenced on Jan. 1, 2003, to 18 years for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, second-striker; and again on Aug. 7, 2015, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for assault by prisoner with a deadly weapon likely to cause great bodily injury, third-striker.
Roach, 35, was received from San Diego County on April 17, 2014, to serve three years for theft embezzlement from an elder/dependent adult, two years for possessing ammunition and two years for possession of a firearm by a felon or addict. In Aug. 2015 he was released to Post-Release Community Supervision in San Diego County. On Aug. 31, 2017, he was received from San Diego County to serve one year for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. On Oct. 15, 2019, he was sentenced to 12 years for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, second-striker. While incarcerated he was sentenced on Feb. 2, 2024, to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, third-striker.
Ricks, 38, was received from Riverside County on October 13, 2006, when he was sentenced for carrying a loaded firearm and buying/receiving a stolen vehicle. On Oct. 13, 2023, he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and eight years for assault with a deadly weapon, second-striker.
Reynolds, 46, was received from Los Angeles County on February 17, 1999, when he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder. While incarcerated, he was sentenced on June 8, 2004 to life without parole for first-degree murder, third-striker.
Activated in 1986, California State Prison, Sacramento is a high-security prison in Folsom that houses about 1,875 incarcerated people and employs about 1,700 staff. The institution houses those serving long-term sentences, those requiring specialized mental health programming, and incarcerated people with high-risk medical concerns. The institution also provides work, career technical education, academic, self-help, art, religious and other rehabilitative programs.
