FOLSOM – An inmate serving a sentence for a 2018 Contra Costa County conviction was fatally stabbed Monday at California State Prison, Sacramento, officials said.
Another inmate was detained in both the fatal stabbing and the non-fatal stabbing of a third inmate, officials said.
Killed was Lamar Scott, 35. He had been imprisoned since July 2018 serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted in Contra Costa County for corporal injury on specific persons resulting in traumatic condition as a second striker, with enhancements inflicting great bodily injury involving domestic violence, personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon and prior felony conviction of a serious offense, officials said.
The stabbings, which were witnessed by correctional officers, happened just after 6 p.m. in a prison dayroom, officials said.
Prison officials said another inmate, Jason Brannigan, 47, was seen stabbing Scott multiple times with an improvised weapon. Brannigan also allegedly stabbed a third inmate, Santana D. West, 71, officials said.
Officials said officers immediately quelled the incident, initiated life-saving measures and activated 911. Scott was pronounced deceased at 6:36 p.m. West was treated for his injuries, but his condition was not immediately known.
An improvised weapon was found at the scene, officials said. No one else was injured.
Brannigan was placed in restricted housing as multiple investigations continue. Officials have not released a motive for the attacks and it was not immediately known if he had been formally charged.
Brannigan, 47, was sentenced to prison in March 2011 from Sacramento County for 17 years, eight months for corporal injury to spouse within seven years of a prior/specified conviction, criminal threat to cause great bodily injury/death and vandalism as a second striker, with an enhancement for a prior felony conviction of a serious offense. While incarcerated, Brannigan was sentenced by Kern County on Feb. 28, 2022, to four years for possession/manufacture of a deadly weapon as a second striker, an in-prison offense.
West, 71, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for rape with force/violence/fear of bodily injury as a third striker in San Francisco County in March 2022, officials said.