SOLEDAD — A Monterey County jury on April 23 convicted Salinas Valley State Prison inmate Miguel Angel Espino, 33, of first-degree murder in the killing of a fellow inmate, according to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the killing occurred Aug. 19, 2024, on a recreational yard at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, where Espino stabbed a wheelchair-bound inmate 42 times with an inmate-manufactured weapon.
Prison medical staff attempted lifesaving measures, but the victim died at the scene from injuries that caused extensive hemorrhaging, authorities said.
The jury found Espino guilty of willful, deliberate and premeditated murder. Jurors also found true allegations that the crime involved “a high degree of cruelty, viciousness and callousness,” according to the DA’s Office.
The court additionally found true that Espino has prior Riverside County convictions from 2024 for attempted murder, mayhem and arson, which qualify as strike offenses under California’s Three Strikes Law.
Espino faces a sentence of 75 years to life in prison, to be served consecutively to his current sentence of seven years to life.
