California prison officials investigate homicide after New Folsom inmate dies following fight

Authorities said the death of an inmate Friday at California State Prison, Sacramento, near Folsom is being investigated as a homicide following a fight with five other inmates.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said guards saw inmates Darryn Mayberry, Robert Keller, Tray Watson, Marcell Battiest and Otis Wyatt, attack fellow inmate Darryl Hudson in the dayroom at the facility known as New Folsom just before 3 p.m. Thursday.

Hudson was allegedly hit by Mayberry several times and lost consciousness, corrections officials said. Guards stopped the fight by shouting verbal orders and immediately called for emergency services. Officials said they had “limited movement on the yard” where the fight took place.

Hudson was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. Friday. Corrections officials said no staff or additional inmates were injured in the altercation.

Hudson, 40, was convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in Contra Costa County in 2009 and sentenced to life without parole. In 2021, he was convicted of an in-prison offense of battery on a non-prisoner in Kern County and sentenced to an additional seven years.

The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office will determine Hudson’s official cause of death, CDCR said.

The five inmates involved in the fight were placed in restricted housing while corrections officials and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office conduct an investigation into the homicide.

Mayberry, 30, was serving a 10-year sentence for second-degree robbery. Keller, 38, was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Watson, 58, was sentenced 18 years for assault with a firearm. Battiest, 29, was convicted of attempted second-degree murder and second-degree robbery and serving life without parole. Wyatt, 27, was sentenced to life without parole for second-degree murder.