LOS ANGELES, CA – An inmate from Los Angeles County is under investigation after allegedly killing his cellmate at Kern Valley State Prison, officials said Monday.
The victim, 41-year-old Darius Swain, was found unresponsive in his cell on Saturday. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), Swain’s cellmate, 58-year-old Gregory Clark, was discovered wearing blood-stained clothing when guards responded to the scene.
Despite life-saving efforts by prison staff, Swain was pronounced dead at 3:48 p.m. by paramedics. The Kern County coroner is conducting an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.
Clark has since been moved to restricted housing while the incident is investigated.
Swain had been serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole since March 2019 for charges out of Alameda County, including human trafficking of a minor with force, pimping, second-degree robbery, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Clark, sentenced to 22 years for domestic violence with a deadly weapon and prior felonies in 2011, also received an additional two-year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon while incarcerated in 2021.
Authorities have not released further details about the incident, and the investigation remains ongoing.
