Inmate killed inside Las Vegas-area prison

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The Nevada Department of Corrections is investigating the suspected murder of an inmate on June 14, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

Jacob Lambeth, 48, was found inside his High Desert State Prison cell with multiple stab wounds. It is unclear whether a suspect, believed to be an inmate, currently faces charges.

Lambeth’s cousin, Jessica Gonzales said her family wants justice.

“Nobody deserves to just be killed and it swept under the rug,” Gonzales wrote in an email to the 8 News Now Investigators. “He has spent most of his life in prison and I think we all felt like he was at least safe behind bars. He has a lot of people that cared for him and love him and he will not be forgotten.”

Lambeth was expected to be released from prison in 2026, according to prison records. He was serving time in prison for attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by an ex-felon, Clark County District Court records show.

Judge James Bixler handed Lambeth an eight to 20-year sentence for the attempted murder charge plus a two to five-year sentence for the weapons charge, per a guilty plea. The sentence was to run concurrently with a federal case against Lambeth in connection with a 2003 arrest regarding a stolen vehicle, failing to stop for an officer and weapons charges, records showed.

The court also recommended a drug treatment program for Lambeth.

Lambeth filed a civil rights complaint against High Desert State Prison staff in April.

“I was able to walk. I am now confined to a wheelchair,” he stated in a handwritten complaint. “They confined me to a wheelchair and continued to deny me medical treatment.”

Lambeth claimed he contracted osteomyelitis in his spine, defined as an infection of the bone. Lambeth said his medical needs were ignored, and he was left in his cell with fecal matter while he was in excruciating pain. He was hospitalized for a month in intensive care after he was finally seen by prison medical staff, according to the complaint.

High Desert State Prison is a medium-security facility located near Indian Springs, which is approximately a 45-minute drive north of Las Vegas.

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