SACRAMENTO — No one outside of San Quentin State Prison will be seeing Scott Peterson in person any time soon as officials consider if he should be retried in the headline-grabbing slayings of his pregnant wife and unborn child, a judge decided Friday. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo...
Guard at California’s San Quentin Prison Dies of Coronavirus
SAN QUENTIN — A veteran guard at San Quentin State Prison has died as a result of the coronavirus, marking the first COVID-19 death of an employee at the California lockup where a large outbreak has infected staff and inmates, corrections officials said. Sgt. Gilbert Polanco, an Army veteran and...
Man Convicted in Notorious 1991 Fresno Murders Dies at San Quentin
Johnny Avila Jr. — condemned to death in one of Fresno's most notorious murder cases of the 1990s — died at San Quentin State Prison on Sunday from suspected coronavirus complications. Avila, a member of the Parkside Bulldogs gang, was among three men convicted in 1994 of two counts of...
Tulare Child Killer Dies of COVID-Related Illness on Death Row
Tulare County child killer John M. Beames died Tuesday while awaiting execution for the 1994 torture and murder of 15-month old Cassie McMains. Beames, 67, was sentenced to death row in San Quentin State Prison following his conviction in 1995. He died at a hospital outside the prison, officials said....
Serial Killer Dubbed Grim Sleeper Dies in California Prison
SAN QUENTIN — Lonnie Franklin, the convicted serial killer known as the "Grim Sleeper" who preyed on the women of South Los Angeles for more than two decades, has died in prison. He was 67. California corrections officials said Franklin was found unresponsive in his cell at San Quentin State...
California to Move Some Condemned Inmates off Death Row
SACRAMENTO — More than 700 condemned inmates on California's largest-in-the-nation death row soon will have a chance to transfer to one of eight state prisons, a move a former district attorney termed “a slap to the face" of victims. The voluntary transfers from San Quentin State Prison’s all-male death row...
Newsom Puts Moratorium on California Executions
SACRAMENTO — The 737 inmates on California's largest-in-the-nation death row are getting a reprieve from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who plans to sign an executive order Wednesday placing a moratorium on executions. Newsom also is withdrawing the lethal injection regulations that death penalty opponents already have tied up in courts and...
Manhunt Is on for Inmate Who Escaped From San Quentin
SAN QUENTIN — California authorities were on a manhunt Thursday for an inmate who walked away from San Quentin State Prison and is believed to have carjacked a vehicle overnight. Shalom Mendoza, 21, was last seen at the prison before 6 p.m. Wednesday and reported missing after 9:30 p.m. Wednesday....