SOLEDAD — On Feb. 4, a Monterey County judge sentenced Tyrell Ainsworth, 33, to 70 years to life in prison plus an additional term of five years, both consecutive to the life sentence he is currently serving with the California Department of Corrections (CDCR).
On July 17, 2020, CDCR inmate Ainsworth, while serving a life sentence at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, requested medical attention as a ruse to be taken from his cell. While a correctional officer escorted him, Ainsworth pulled a concealed homemade tomahawk-style blade and violently attacked the officer, according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Ainsworth inflicted slash wounds on the officer’s neck in the jugular area. A fellow officer came to his aid and Ainsworth assaulted him as well, stated the DA’s Office. Both correctional officers survived the attack.
Ainsworth’s jury trial took place in May 2025. The jury found him guilty of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of a peace officer, and assault on a second peace officer, and custodial possession of a weapon.
The jury also found true that Ainsworth has prior convictions for murder in Los Angeles County in 2012, and robbery in Los Angeles County in 2009, both of which qualify as “strike” offenses within the meaning of California’s Three Strikes Law.
