By Paige St. John
Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California officials have publicly identified two suspects in the August killing of infamous inmate Hugo Pinell, whose death sparked a large and violent riot at a high security state prison near Folsom.
Both of the named suspects have past convictions for assaulting other inmates, corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said Friday. The department is not releasing further information about the suspected motive of the assault, she said.
The results of a two-month prison investigation into Pinell’s death will be turned over to district attorneys in Sacramento for possible prosecution, said Lt. Aaron Konrad, a spokesman for California State Prison-Sacramento where the attack and riot took place.
The suspects are Jayson W. Weaver, 38, from San Diego County, and Waylon D. Pitchford, 37, from Tehama County.
The corrections department said both men are in segregation, but would not release their photos because of concerns for security.
Records provided by the corrections department show Weaver was convicted in 2006 for an assault on another inmate, drawing a life-without-parole sentence. He had already been serving a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole for a 1995 murder conviction.
Pitchford was sentenced in 2012 to an additional 12 years in prison for assaulting a prisoner with a deadly weapon. He was serving a life-with-parole sentence for a 2003 second-degree murder conviction.
Pinell had gained notoriety as well as a small following. He was known as one of the “San Quentin Six” for his participation in a violent attack within the historic prison in 1971 under the leadership ofblack militant George Jackson.
Pinell repeatedly had been tied to other prison assaults and was serving multiple life sentences, including one for the death of a guard. He had been held in solitary confinement until this year. He was accused of being a member of the Black Guerrilla Family, a charge he denied.
Under new state policies that limit the use of solitary confinement, the elderly inmate was moved out of isolation in 2014. He had just recently been transferred to an open maximum-security yard when he was attacked, prison officials said.
Five inmates were injured in the ensuing riot, and one of them remains hospitalized with severe head injuries, Thornton said.
Pinell’s lawyer has contended his client was “a marked man” and should have been protected from other inmates.