A man convicted of murder in Los Angeles County was fatally stabbed in North Kern State Prison by two fellow inmates, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Josafat Bonifacio, 32, was attacked just after 12:30 p.m. Thursday, allegedly by 30-year-old Andrew Jimenez and 28-year-old Anthony Rivera, the CDCR said in a news release.
The two men are believed to have been armed with “an inmate-manufactured weapon,” and Bonifacio “sustained multiple stab wounds,” the release said.
He died about an hour after the stabbing while he was on the way to the hospital.
Bonifacio arrived at the prison on May 30 after he was sentenced to serve life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder.
An Inglewood man with the same name and similar age was charged with murder in 2019 in the fatal assault of his girlfriend’s son two days before the child’s 3rd birthday.
Jimenez and Rivera were both also convicted of murder and sentenced to serve life with the possibility of parole.
Jimenez came to the North Kern State Prison on Oct. 18, 2021, after he was convicted of first-degree murder and causing great bodily injury.
Rivera, who came to the prison from Kern County on Feb. 3, 2012, was convicted of second-degree murder and possessing or owning a firearm as a felon or addict, prison officials said.
“Both suspects have been moved to restricted housing pending investigation into this case,” the release said.