A former Lompoc man serving a state prison sentence has been accused of killing his cellmate in Kern County.
Correctional officers at Kern Valley State Prison were investigating the April 30 death of Noe Herrera’s cellmate as a homicide, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
During a security check, prison staff found Alfredo Valenzuela, 50, unresponsive at approximately 2:05 a.m. in the cell he shared with Herrera.
Staff attempted life-saving measures, but Valenzuela was pronounced dead at 2:31 a.m.
Herrera, 36, was removed from the cell, and has been rehoused at the institution’s Administrative Segregation Unit pending investigation.
Valenzuela has been incarcerated since November 2010 from Los Angeles County after a life-without-parole sentence for two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and vehicle theft.
He was convicted of killing a couple in Monrovia in 2003.
In August 2019, Herrera entered the state prison system after receiving a life-with-parole sentence for second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder following a changed plea in Santa Maria Superior Court.
Herrera pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing a transient on Jan. 20, 2015, and attempting to kill the defendant’s mother in Lompoc.
Herrera already was in custody for an alleged assault on the 400 block of North L Street when Lompoc Police Department detectives conducted a follow-up interview.
He told investigators about the fatal stabbing, police said, and directed them to the body of Salvador Juarez Hernandez, 57.
The victim was found in an area surrounded by tall vegetation behind the Valero Gas Station on the 900 block of North H Street.
Officers said that the victim had suffered multiple stab wounds.
Herrera initially faced five felony charges and was sentenced to 24 years to life after pleading guilty to a pair of charges.
The Kern County Coroner’s Office will determine the official cause of death for Herrera’s cellmate, state officials said.
The Office of the Inspector General has been notified, state correctional officials said.
The Delano-based Kern Valley State Prison opened in 2005, and houses more than 3,200 minimum-, medium-, and high-security inmates.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.