Inmate dies after being attacked by other prisoners at California max-security lockup, officials say

TEHACHAPI, California — An inmate at a maximum-security prison in California died Wednesday after being stabbed multiple times by two other inmates, authorities said.

David Moreno, 38, was attacked shortly before 9 a.m. at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, according to a statement from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Guards used chemical agents to quickly break up the attack, but Moreno died less than an hour later on the way to a hospital, authorities said.

Three inmate-made weapons were seized and two inmates, Carlos Cervantes and Armando Taylor, have been moved to restricted housing while Moreno’s death is investigated.

Moreno was sent to the maximum security prison in 2004 to serve a life sentence with the possibility of parole. He was convicted in Los Angeles County of two counts of attempted murder with a gun. In 2015, he received an additional three years for assaulting a non-inmate while behind bars, authorities said.

Cervantes, 39, arrived at the jail from Kern County in 2018. He was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for two counts of first-degree murder with a handgun and received additional time in 2020 for manufacturing a deadly weapon and assault with another weapon. inmate while in custody, authorities said.

Taylor, 41, was convicted of murder and arrived at the prison from Imperial County in 2017 to serve a life sentence with the possibility of parole. In 2020 and 2022, he received additional prison time for prison assaults, authorities said.