Two inmates from San Diego allegedly involved in prison death: CDCR
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Two incarcerated men at a Southern California state prison who were convicted in San Diego County are believed to have been involved in the fatal stabbing of another inmate last week, state corrections officials said in a release on Wednesday.
The incident occurred around 9:31 a.m. on Friday, May 3 at High Desert State Prison, located outside Los Angeles County.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), 49-year-old inmate, Scott Cook, was stabbed multiple times before staff responded to the scene. Cook was transported to the triage area, but he was pronounced dead by medical staff 20 minutes later.
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No additional inmates or staff were injured in the incident, CDCR officials noted.
John Patch, 36, and Zachary Harris, 30, were later identified as suspects in the attack. According to CDCR, the two are believed to have used two “inmate-manufactured” weapons recovered at the scene in the stabbing which were recovered from the scene.
Both Patch and Harris have been moved to restricted housing pending investigation, according to the CDCR. What led up to the incident remains unknown.
Patch was received at High Desert State Prison in Dec. 21, 2022 from San Diego County, where he was sentenced to life without parole for second-degree murder with personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon, CDCR said.
He was also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon that inflicted great bodily injury to victim comatose or suffer paralysis, and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury.
Harris was similarly received at High Desert State Prison from San Diego County on July 21, 2021. According to prison officials, he was sentenced to 24 years, eight months for second-degree attempted murder on top of a slew of other weapons, burglary and driving charges.
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It was Harris’ second strike for several of the charges under the state’s three strikes law, prison officials said. He was also sentenced in Kern County to 11 years for assault by a prisoner with means of force likely to cause great body injury.
Cook, on the other hand, was received at the prison from San Bernardino County in November 2000 after being sentenced to life without parole for first-degree murder, carjacking, kidnapping, grand theft and use of a firearm enhancement, according to the CDCR.
He was also sentenced in Kern County to 16 years, eight months for assault by prisoner with deadly weapon or force likely to cause great body injury, as well as possession of an inmate-manufactured deadly weapon.
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