SUSANVILLE – Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) are investigating the June 27, 2024, death of an inmate at High Desert State Prison (HDSP) as a homicide.
At 12:34 a.m., officers conducted a security patrol and approached a cell occupied by Hector Hernandez and Jonathan Gonzales. The officer noticed Hernandez unresponsive in his cell and immediately called for medical assistance and 911.
Staff began life-saving measures on Hernandez and transported him to the prison’s triage and treatment area where treatment continued. Medical personnel at an outside medical facility pronounced Hernandez dead at 1:02 a.m. No staff or other inmates were injured.
Gonzales was placed in a locked cell pending investigation. The cell was locked to facilitate the investigation by the Lassen County District Attorney’s Office HDSP Investigative Services Unit. The Office of the Inspector General has been notified and the Lassen County Coroner will determine Hernandez’s official cause of death.
Hernandez, 33, was committed from Los Angeles County on April 19, 2024, to a life sentence with the possibility of parole for two counts of first-degree murder and use of a firearm. He received 855 days of pre-sentence credit for time served in custody and was eligible for credit opportunities while in custody.
Gonzales, 36, was most recently sentenced on October 27, 2016, out of Los Angeles County to a 28-year prison term for extortion by force/threat of a second-attacker, felony street gang involvement in the commission of a violent crime and use of a firearm, possession/manufacture of a deadly weapon by an inmate in the second-attacker, auto theft, prior conviction of aggravated misdemeanor and attempted second-degree robbery, use of a firearm, and victim/witness obstruction/deterrence.
Hector Hernández
Jonathan Gonzales
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 27 June 2024
Contact: CDCR Press Office: [email protected]
