Homicide Investigation Underway After Inmate Found Dead At San Diego Prison

SAN DIEGO, CA — Officials are investigating the death of an inmate at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility as a homicide after he was found unresponsive Saturday in his cell at the San Diego prison, authorities said.

Custody staff found Hector Ozuna, 66, unresponsive at 6:07 a.m. Saturday inside his cell with his 30-year-old cellmate Alexis Guerrero, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Staff performed life-saving measures and moved Ozuna to the prison's medical area, where he was pronounced dead at 6:57 a.m.

Guerrero was removed from the cell and placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the prison's Investigative Services Unit and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. No weapons were found at the scene, officials said.

The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office will determine Ozuna's official cause of death.

Ozuna was received from Riverside County in 2023 and was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for assault with a deadly weapon as a third strike offender, with an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.

Guerrero was received from San Bernardino County in 2024 and was serving a six-year sentence, officials said.