Condemned California prisoner, 42, stabbed to death with inmate-made weapons

An investigation is underway after a 42-year-old inmate in Southern California condemned to life without parole was fatally stabbed over the weekend, prison officials announced.  

Investigators at the California Department of Corrections’ Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, eastern Riverside County, said that on June 22 around 7 p.m., three inmates attacked Luis Padilla, leaving him with multiple stab wounds.  

“Staff immediately sounded the alarm,” a CDCR news release states. “The three assailants fled the area but were quickly located and detained without incident.”  

Life-saving measures were performed on the 42-year-old, and he was transferred by medical staff to Ironwood State Prison’s triage and treatment area.  

Padilla, who was transferred to the facility from Los Angeles County in 2001, was pronounced dead at 7:38 p.m., prison officials said.  

At the scene of the attack, investigators found two inmate-manufactured weapons.  

The three suspects in the fatal attack, 28-year-old Samual Ricardez, 23-year-old Jonathan Orduno and 26-year-old Juan Madrigal, all transfers from San Diego County serving life without parole, were moved to restrictive housing while Investigative Services Unit and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office investigate.  

Ironwood State Prison, which opened in 1994, houses more than 3,100 minimum, medium and maximum-security inmates.