The former leader of a Los Angeles street gang who made national headlines for ordering the murders of members of his own gang was killed in prison over the weekend.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 47-year-old Ezequiel Romo was stabbed multiple times by three fellow inmates at Centinela State Prison in Imperial County Sunday evening.
Cristian Moreno, 31, Johnny Garcia, 39, and Christian Hernandez, 41, are accused of attacking Romo with “inmate-manufactured” weapons in a dayroom at the prison. Guards issued verbal orders to break up the attack, but those orders were ignored, CDCR officials said, which resulted in multiple deployments of pepper spray to stop the violence.
Romo was taken to an on-site medical facility and was pronounced dead hours later.
Romo had been at Centinela since August 2023 after being sentenced in Los Angeles County to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit other murders.
According to a 2023 profile by the Los Angeles Times, Romo was the leader of the Blythe Street gang in Panorama City and was responsible for at least eight deaths after he ordered members of the gang to turn on one another, removing drug addicts, informants, rivals and other people whom he considered “dead weight” from the gang’s ranks.
Prior to being the main shotcaller for the street gang, Romo spent nearly two decades behind bars on manslaughter charges. He was 18 years old when he shot and killed a 19-year-old man during a fight at a fast food joint in the San Fernando Valley in 1995.
In prison, he became a soldier of the Mexican Mafia prison gang and made plans to incorporate Blythe Street into the national crime syndicate upon his release.
When he returned to Panorama City, he took over his old gang, ordered them to sell Mexican Mafia drugs and collect taxes on behalf of the criminal organization in hopes of raising his status.
His return to the streets also led to him ordering the killings of members of his own gang.
Described as a “micromanager” by the Times, Romo ordered hits on members of his gangs for minor infractions like getting an unsanctioned tattoo or getting high and not returning his calls.
“And if you had something Romo wanted, like a kilogram of cocaine, why pay for it? His dealer got the same treatment: a bullet in the back,” the Times wrote.
Romo would eventually be busted with drugs in his car and would be sentenced to more time in prison where he would continue to run the gang from behind bars before returning to the streets again.
He was ultimately linked to several murders committed by members of his gang and went to trial alongside them in 2023.
Romo would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and attempted conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.
Romo had been at Centinela for under a year before he was killed. His alleged attackers were all convicted in Los Angeles County. It’s unclear if the men have gang ties.
Garcia and Hernandez are both serving life sentences for first-degree murder, CDCR said. Moreno is serving a 20-year sentence for assault, making criminal threats and escaping custody by force.
The three suspects are being held in restricted housing. Romo’s death is under investigation by the prison’s investigative unit as well as the Imperial County District Attorney’s Office.
The California Office of the Inspector General has been notified of the homicide and the county coroner will determine the official cause of death.
The three alleged perpetrators have not yet been charged in Romo’s killing.