On June 6, 2025, Julian Mendez, 46, a prisoner on death row at the Kern Valley State Prison in Riverside County, California, was killed by inmate Mario Renteria, 36, using a makeshift weapon, KGET in Bakersfield reported. During the attack, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), guards ordered the men to “get down,” but the two prisoners ignored this command; the guards then used “chemical agents” in an attempt to break up the fight. Around this time, around 30 other prisoners rushed in and began striking Renteria. Guards, having lost control of the situation, launched “blast grenades” to disperse the crowd. 

Following the incident, the CDCR implemented a modified program to investigate a rise in violence and overdoses at certain facilities including Kern Valley. Medical and legal services remained in place during the program, but access to phones, tablet communications, and in-person visitations were suspended. As of this writing, on June 26, the state lifted the restrictions in nine prisons but kept them in place in Kern Valley and 11 others.  

Additional source: KTLA