Centinela state Prison officials are investigating the death of 38-year old inmate Matthew J. Herrera as a possible homicide.

On Wednesday , June 12 , at about 2:20 p.m. , two inmates were observed attacking Herrera in a housing unit. Prison staff responded and were able to stop the attack but not before Herrera had been stabbed multiple times. Life-saving measures were taken immediately but Herrera was pronounced dead a short time later. Prisoners Carlos Monge and Martin Lara , Jr. are considered suspects and are being held in the prison's administrative segregation unit pending completion of the investigation. The Imperial County Sheriff's Office and the Imperial County District Attorney's Office are assisting prison officials in the investigation. Inmate movement has been limited while the investigation is underway. Staff recovered two inmate-manufactured weapons.

Herrera was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole. He was received into the prison system in 2017 from Los Angeles county in 2010. Monge , 29 , was sentenced to life with a possibility of parole for attempted second-degree murder as a second strike and intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily harm. Lara , Jr. 34 , was sentenced in Santa Barbara County in 2008 and was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder and shooting from a motor vehicle.