SACRAMENTO – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating two deaths of incarcerated persons, one at High Desert State Prison (HDSP) on July 22 and one at California State Prison, Sacramento (CSP-SAC) on July 23.
HDSP homicide investigation
On Friday, July 22 at approximately 7:35 p.m., officers at HDSP responded when incarcerated persons Joseph Gama and Alvaro Saldana attacked incarcerated person Albert Martinez in a maximum-security housing unit. Martinez was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area for treatment of injuries he sustained from the attack; however, he was pronounced deceased at 7:55 p.m.
Gama, 24, was sentenced to CDCR from Stanislaus County on June 3, 2016, to serve a 15-year sentenced for assault with a firearm inflicting great bodily injury with an enhancement for a street gang act.
Saldana, 37, was sentenced to CDCR on May 31, 2011 from Stanislaus County to serve a life with parole sentence for first-degree murder as a second-striker with intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury/death.
Martinez, 52, was sentenced to CDCR on Dec. 13, 1994 from Sacramento County to serve an 18-year, eight-month sentence for four counts of second-degree robbery with use of a firearm, one count of vehicle theft, and assault with a firearm with use of a firearm. While incarcerated, Martinez was sentenced in Kings County to serve a life with parole sentence for battery on a non-prisoner, a third strike offense. Martinez was also sentenced on Feb. 7, 2018 in Sacramento County for possession of a controlled substance in jail/prison, an in-prison offense.
Officials have limited inmate movement on the yard to facilitate the investigation being conducted by HDSP’s Investigative Services Unit, the Lassen District Attorney’s Office and the Lassen County Coroner. The Office of the Inspector General was notified and the Lassen County Coroner will determine Martinez’s official cause of death.
KVSP opened in 2005 and houses approximately 3,200 minimum-, medium-, and high-security custody inmates. KVSP offers academic classes and vocational programs and employs approximately 1,500 people.
Homicide investigation at California State Prison, Sacramento
On Saturday, July 23 at approximately 9:39 a.m. CSP-SAC incarcerated persons Daryl Cull and Nicholas Mangelli were observed attacking incarcerated person Wayne Caskey with manufactured weapons on one of the maximum-security yards. Responding staff used less than lethal 40mm direct impact rounds to quell the attack. Caskey was transported to the institution’s triage and treatment area and summoned an ambulance; however, Caskey was declared deceased at 10:08 a.m.
Cull, 56, was sentenced to CDCR on June 16, 1999 from San Diego County to serve a life with parole sentence for first-degree attempted murder with intentional discharge oof a firearm causing great bodily injury/death, torture, assault with semiautomatic firearm with use of a firearm inflicting great bodily injury, battery with serious injury, and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury with inflicting great bodily injury. On Feb. 9, 2012, Cull received a four-year sentence from Lassen County for possession/manufacture of deadly weapon by a prisoner as a second-striker. Additionally, on Jan. 21, 2016 Cull received a four-year sentence from Lassen County for assault with a deadly weapon, an in-prison offense as a second-striker.
Mangelli, 32, was sentenced to CDCR on Feb. 2, 2014 from Sacramento County to serve a life without parole sentence for first-degree murder with personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon. On April 13, 2018, he was sentenced in Lassen County to serve eight years for assault with a deadly weapon, an in-prison offense as a second-striker.
Caskey, 59, was sentenced to CDCR on June 15, 2009 in Sacramento County to serve a life with parole sentence for first-degree murder with intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury/death. While incarcerated, Caskey was sentenced on March 2, 2017 in Sacramento County to serve four years for assault by a prisoner with deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury, an in-prison offense as a second-striker.
Officials have limited movement on the yard to facilitate the investigation being conducted by CSP-SAC’s Investigative Services Unit, the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office and the Sacramento County Coroner. The Office of the Inspector General was notified and the Sacramento County Coroner will determine Caskey’s official cause of death.
Activated in 1986, CSP-SAC is a high-security prison in Folsom that houses 1,872 incarcerated people and employs about 1,700 people. 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.
HDSP persons
Left to right: Joseph Gama, Albert Martinez, Alvaro Saldana
CSP-SAC persons
Left to right: Wayne Caskey, Daryl Cull, Nicholas Mangelli
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 25, 2022
CONTACT: CDCR Press OfficeOPEC@CDCR.CA.GOV
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