California mafia member on death row fatally beaten by other inmates in prison

A death row inmate was beaten to death by three other inmates at a Southern California prison, according to officials.

Alberto Martinez was killed Thursday at Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a news release. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

Another inmate, Tyler A. Lua, was seen by jail staff punching Martinez and knocking him to the ground before continuing to punch him. Lue eventually relinquished Martinez, but two other inmates – Jorge D. Negrete-Larios and Luis J. Beltran – began beating Martinez as he lay motionless on the ground.

The staff then stopped the beating with pepper spray and a baton. Two police-made weapons were found at the scene.

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Alberto Martinez was beaten to death by three other inmates in a California prison. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)

Martinez suffered injuries consistent with a locked-up weapon. No staff or other prisoners were injured.

Emergency responders were called to the scene and medical personnel performed life-saving measures on Martinez. He was transported to the prison treatment room and pronounced dead at 2:20 p.m

Freedom of movement in the courtyard where the alleged attack took place is restricted.

Lua, Negrete-Larios and Beltran were moved to restricted housing pending an investigation into the incident.

Martinez, 46, was last received out of Orange County on August 17, 2010, and was given a conviction status for first-degree murder. He was also sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for attempted first-degree murder, with an enhancement for street gang activity and two years for street gang activity, a sentence to be served concurrently with the convicted sentence.

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Tyler A. Lua, Jorge D. Negrete-Larios and Luis J. Beltran are charged with the murder of Alberto Martinez. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)

According to the Orange County Register, he acted as a getaway driver in a failed plot to kidnap and murder a businessman. The plot was allegedly orchestrated by the businessman’s sister.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Martinez was a powerful member of a Mexican mafia who orchestrated murders while on death row and communicated with a woman from Mexico on a cell phone he was not allowed to have.

Lua, 25, was received from San Bernardino County on January 31, 2019 and sentenced to 19 years in prison for attempted second-degree murder with an enhancement for use of a firearm. During his incarceration, he was sentenced to an additional two years for possessing a controlled substance while in prison.

Negrete-Larios, 33, was received from Riverside County on July 5, 2016 and sentenced to 32 years and four months in prison for attempted manslaughter with enhancements for inflicting great bodily harm, discharging a firearm and street gang activity in committing of a violent crime.

Beltran, 31, was received out of Los Angeles County on April 6, 2023 and sentenced to life without parole for first-degree murder, with enhancements for intentional discharge of a firearm resulting in serious bodily injury or death, and possession of a firearm as punishment. criminal.

No staff or other prisoners were injured. (iStock)

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There are a total of 623 inmates with sentenced sentences in California prisons, according to the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signed an executive order that placed a moratorium on the death penalty in the Golden State. The order also called for the repeal of the state’s lethal injection protocol and the immediate closure of the state execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison.

The last execution in California took place in 2006.