Folsom, CA…California State Prison, Sacramento officials are investigating the death of a 63-year-old inmate as a possible homicide. The victim has been identified as Charles Anthony Ross. On May 30 at 2:16 p.m., officers saw inmates Joshua Kerr and Nicholas Mangelli in an altercation with another inmate on the B Facility exercise yard. Officers immediately responded, using pepper spray and a blast grenade to quell the violence. No staff injuries were reported.

Staff discovered Ross had been stabbed with an inmate-manufactured device. Life-saving measures were performed on the victim as he was transported to the institution’s Central Health Building. He was pronounced dead at 2:34 p.m. on Thursday. Ross, 63, was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole out of Riverside County since 1997 for first-degree murder and second-degree robbery.

Kerr and Mangelli are considered suspects and will be placed in the institution’s Administrative Segregation Unit pending further investigation.

Kerr, 35, was received from Orange County in December 2015 to serve a 22-year sentence for attempted second-degree murder with an enhancement for street gang activity and second-degree robbery.

Mangelli, 28, was received from Sacramento County in March 2014 to serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon.

Activated in 1986, CSP-SAC is a high-security prison that houses approximately 2,100 general population inmates and employs about 1,700 people. The institution houses long-term inmates, inmates requiring specialized mental health programming, and inmates with high-risk medical concerns.

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