A 47-year-old incarcerated man died Tuesday, Oct. 6, at California State Prison, Sacramento after another inmate freed himself from restraints and attacked him.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) identified the victim as Mario Ortega and said it is investigating his death as a homicide, according to a CDCR press release. The attack marks the second homicide investigation at the Folsom facility in 2026.

Staff were transporting Ortega and Shunki E. Fleming, 29, by golf cart within the prison at about 10:50 a.m. Fleming worked his way out of his hand restraints and began battering Ortega, CDCR said. Staff stopped the cart and intervened. An improvised weapon was recovered at the scene.

Staff called 911 and began life-saving measures. Ortega was taken to an outside hospital, where a doctor pronounced him dead at about 11:50 a.m.

Fleming was moved to the prison's restricted housing unit. The prison's Investigative Services Unit is leading the investigation, and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has been notified, CDCR said. Fleming has not been charged in connection with Ortega's death.

CDCR did not specify what type of restraints were used or how Fleming freed himself, saying only that he manipulated his way out of his hand restraints.

Fleming has a documented history of weapons offenses behind bars. He was sentenced in Kern County in March 2021 to three years for possessing a deadly weapon while incarcerated. In February 2025, Kings County sentenced him to two more years on the same charge.

His original sentence, out of Los Angeles County in 2019, was 42 years for second-degree robbery and assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

Ortega had been incarcerated since 1999, serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole out of Riverside County for kidnapping, carjacking and sodomy by force with firearm enhancements. In September 2025, San Joaquin County added two years to his sentence for possessing a deadly weapon while incarcerated.

The Oct. 6 death follows a Feb. 23 homicide at the same prison. In that case, inmate John Cisneros was found unresponsive in his cell and later pronounced dead, according to a separate CDCR press release. His cellmate, Irvin Sanchez, was placed in restricted housing, and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office joined the investigation.

The investigation into Ortega's death remains ongoing. CDCR has not announced a timeline for completing the probe or whether the case will be referred to the district attorney's office for charges.

Anyone with information about safety concerns at California State Prison, Sacramento can contact the CDCR Office of the Inspector General.