One condemned inmate killed another Friday, the first slaying of a death row inmate in California in more than 20 years, officials said.
Jonathan Fajardo, 30, was stabbed in the chest and neck with an inmate-made weapon in a recreational yard of the cell house that holds the bulk of condemned inmates at San Quentin State Prison, said corrections department spokeswoman Terry Thornton.
Luis Rodriguez, 34, is considered the suspect, she said. Investigators were trying to determine a motive and how he obtained or was able to make the weapon, she said.
This Aug. 3, 2018 photo provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) shows death row inmate Jonathan Fajardo, 30. Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton says Fajardo was stabbed to death in the chest and neck with an inmate-made weapon Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in a recreational yard of the cell house that holds the bulk of condemned inmates at San Quentin State Prison. She says 34-year-old Luis Rodriguez is considered the suspect. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP)
Such slayings are common in California prisons but rare on death row, where the last one occurred in 1997.
"It's very unusual," said San Francisco State University associate professor Amy Smith, who studies capital punishment and the psychological impacts of death row. "It's not supposed to happen, of course."
There is high security on death row, were every inmate is housed separately but most are allowed to congregate in small groups in the exercise yard where Fajardo was killed, Thornton said.
Aside from the higher security, Smith said that statistically, prisoners serving life sentences and "folks who are on 'the row' generally have the lowest levels of prison violence, even though it would seem that they might do anything because they have the worst penalty. In fact, they actually have very, very low incidences of violence in prison."
Fajardo was awaiting execution on two counts of murder in Los Angeles County in what was considered a hate crime. He also received seven life sentences.
He was identified as a Latino gang member who killed a 14-year-old black girl in a racially motivated shooting. He was also condemned for the stabbing death two weeks later of a man who prosecutors said was killed because fellow gang members believed he might be cooperating with police.
Rodriguez is awaiting execution on two counts of murder, also from Los Angeles County. Local media reports identified Rodriguez as a member of another Latino gang convicted of killing two men from a rival gang. He was already suspected of another murder that resulted in a life sentence.
No one has been executed in California since 2006, though voters in 2016 passed an initiative that is attempting to speed up capital punishment. Far more condemned inmates on the nation's largest death row have died of natural causes or suicide than have been executed since California reinstated capital punishment in 1978.
MOSCOW (AP) — Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, was convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on Thursday, court officials and his lawyers said.
He was found guilty of attempted trafficking of large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group, according to an online statement released by court officials, and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in a maxim security penal colony. His lawyers told reporters after the verdict was delivered Thursday that they will appeal the ruling because Woodland's guilt hasn't been proven.
Lawyer Stanislav Kshevitsky also said that Woodland has been suffering from unspecified mental health issues. He didn’t provide any details, but said that the court didn’t take those issues into account.
Russian media reported that his name matches a U.S. citizen interviewed in 2020 who said he was born in the Perm region in 1991 and adopted by an American couple at age 2. He was arrested in January.
He said he traveled to Russia to find his mother and eventually met her on a TV show before deciding to move to Russia. Russian news agency Interfax has cited court officials as saying that Woodland also holds Russian citizenship.
Arrests of Americans in Russia have become increasingly common as relations between Moscow and Washington sink to Cold War lows. Washington accuses Moscow of targeting its citizens and using them as political bargaining chips, but Russian officials insist they all broke the law.
Some have been exchanged for Russians held in the U.S., while for others, the prospects of being released in a swap are less clear.
The U.S. State Department said Thursday it was aware that a U.S. citizen was sentenced by a Russian court and that the embassy in Moscow was closely monitoring the case. The department, citing privacy issues, said it would have no further comment.
U.S. citizen Robert Woodland is escorted to a court room prior to a court session on drug-related charges in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 4, 2024. Woodland was arrested on drug charges in January and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, was convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, stands in a glass cage prior to a court hearing, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. Woodland was convicted of drug-related charges and sentenced to 12 and a 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, stands in a glass cage prior to a court hearing, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. Woodland was convicted of drug-related charges and sentenced to 12 and a 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, stands in a glass cage during a court hearing, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. Woodland was convicted of drug-related charges and sentenced to 12 and a 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, stands in a glass cage during a court hearing, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. Woodland was convicted of drug-related charges and sentenced to 12 and a 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Robert Woodland, right, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, is escorted to the courtroom for a hearing, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. Woodland was convicted of drug-related charges and sentenced to 12 and a 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Robert Woodland, right, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, stands in a glass cage as he talks with his lawyer Stanislav Kshevitsky prior to a court hearing, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. Woodland was convicted of drug-related charges and sentenced to 12 and a 1/2 years in prison on Thursday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
