Man convicted of assault in Monterey County killed in prison

SUSANVILLE, Calif. (KION) A man convicted of assault with a firearm in Monterey County was killed at the California Correctional Center Tuesday.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said 37-year-old Richard Leyva's death is being investigated as a homicide.

Leyva was admitted from Monterey County in September 2011 to serve a 14-year sentence. He was also convicted in Lassen County in October 2019 and sentenced for assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury.

Officials said two fellow inmates, Luiz Ortega and Vincent Martinez, attacked Leyva on the yard just before 10:30 a.m. and ignored orders to stopp. Staff used pepper spray and pepper spray blast grenades to stop them.

Officials with the prison said Leyva was stabbed multiple times. He was airlifted to a hospital where he died of his injuries.

CCC officials said they found two inmate-manufactured weapons, and the suspects were rehoused in the Administrative Segregation Unit.