Prison staff used pepper spray, batons trying to stop deadly attack on cellmate

State officials on Tuesday said a man convicted in Tuolumne County is suspected of attacking a fellow prison inmate who died shortly after.

Joshua Powers, 29, has been identified as a suspect in the prison assault on Kevin Mansfield, 37, at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi in Kern County. The incident occurred shortly before 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Authorities are investigating Mansfield’s death as a homicide. The Kern County Sheriff’s Department is assisting in the investigation.

Prison staffers were conducting an inmate count in one of the housing units, when they discovered inmate Powers “actively striking” Mansfield, Powers’ cellmate, according to a news release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

When the staffers spotted two inmates, Mansfield was face down on the floor and appeared unconscious. The staff used pepper spray to subdue Powers, after he ignored commands to stop.

Prison officials said Powers continued to hit Mansfield, so the staff made an emergency entry into the cell and used batons and physical force to remove Powers from the cell. Powers was then placed in restraints.

The prison’s medical staff attempted life-saving procedures to revive Mansfield as others called for an ambulance. Paramedics arrived, and Mansfield was pronounced dead at 11:49 p.m., 23 minutes after the two inmates were first spotted.

Powers continued to be aggressive with prison staff after he was removed from the cell, prison officials said. Powers had injuries consistent with a fight.

He was moved by wheelchair to the prison’s medical clinic, before he was taken to another medical facility to treat a swelling around his eye and an injured hand. Powers was then placed in administrative segregation housing at the prison.

The prison cell was sealed until evidence could be collected. No staff members were injured during the incident.

Powers was transferred to the prison on July 26, 2017, to serve a 33-year prison sentence..

Prison officials said Powers was serving prison time for a Tuolumne County conviction of kidnapping, two counts of corporal injury resulting in traumatic condition, use of a deadly weapon, two counts of false imprisonment with violence, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and making criminal threats to cause great bodily injury.

Mansfield was serving a sentence of a life in prison with the possibility of parole for a Riverside County conviction of second-degree murder and second-degree robbery.

The prison has more than 3,300 inmates in minimum, medium, maximum and high-security housing and has about 1,600 employees on its staff.

This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Prison staff used pepper spray, batons trying to stop deadly attack on cellmate."