South Bay Third Striker Killed By Fellow Inmate: CDCR

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — A man convicted in a South Bay robbery more than 25 years ago was killed earlier this month by a fellow prison inmate, authorities said.

Peter Hernandez, 59, died from his injuries after being attacked by 30-year-old Angel Montes on Wednesday at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP), the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said in a statement.

The killing is being investigated as a homicide, according to the CDCR.

The attack occurred at 8:04 a.m. Friday in a dayroom, the CDCR said.

An unspecified weapon was used in the attack, according to the CDCR.

Responding staffers used chemical agents to stop the attack and an ambulance was summoned while staff performed life-saving measures on Hernandez, the CDCR dead. However.

Hernandez was pronounced dead at 8:22 a.m.

The investigation being conducted by SVSP’s Investigative Services Unit, the Monterey Cunty District Attorney’s Office and the Monterey County Coroner.

Montes has been placed in segregated housing pending the investigation, the CDCR said.

The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Monterey County Coroner will determine Hernandez’s official cause of death.

No staff members or additional incarcerated people were injured as a result of this incident.

Hernandez in 1997 was sentenced to life with parole for second-degree robbery as a third-striker and petty theft with a prior as a third-striker.

While incarcerated, Hernandez was sentenced Nov. 1, 2021 to serve a two-year sentence for possession/manufacture of a deadly weapon by a prisoner.

Montes, who is from Kings County, was sentenced in 2017 to life with parole for attempted murder of a government official with use of a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with use of a firearm, resisting/deterring officer with threat/violence with use of a firearm, resisting/deterring officer with threat/violence, carjacking with use of a firearm, vehicle theft, attempted vehicle theft, and vandalism, the CDCR said.

SVSP, which opened in May 1996, houses 2,892 minimum- and maximum-custody male inmates and employs approximately 1,600 people.