South Bay prisoner implicated in inmate homicide at Salinas Valley State Prison

A man convicted in Santa Clara County is one of two prisoners accused of killing another inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison on Thursday, authorities said.

The deadly encounter was reported around 8:40 a.m. in a recreational yard of the facility located in the Monterey County city of Soledad, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Correctional officers reportedly saw 23-year-old Adrian Lopez and 39-year-old David Pacheco attacking Oracio Ramirez, 30, before they broke up the confrontation by firing a less-lethal projectile at them.

An ambulance was called, and Ramirez was pronounced dead about 20 minutes after the attack began. No other injuries were reported.

Officials said an “inmate manufactured weapon” — typically a homemade knife — was recovered at the scene, and that Lopez and Pacheco were moved to a restricted housing unit. The homicide is being investigated by the prison and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.

Ramirez entered the CDCR system in October 2014 after being given a life sentence in Tulare County for convictions of first-degree murder, second-degree robbery and gang activity. He was given another nine years of incarceration after being sentenced in May for another conviction, for second-degree attempted murder.

Lopez has been incarcerated by the state since July 2021 to serve a three-year sentence issued in Santa Clara County for second-degree attempted murder, second-degree attempted robbery, illegal firearm discharge, gang activity and attempted carjacking.

Pacheco has been imprisoned since June 2006 for a life sentence given in Los Angeles County for first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, and being a felon with a firearm. He was given additional sentences in Imperial County totaling to about five-and-a-half years for two separate prison assaults in 2012 and 2014, and for weapons possession in 2022.