Inmate from Alameda Co. dies in apparent homicide inside Central Valley prison

California correctional officials have launched a homicide investigation after an inmate from Alameda County serving a life sentence died in a Central Valley prison over the weekend.
According to the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 41-year-old Darius J. Swain died at the Kern Valley State Prison near the community of Delano on Saturday. Swain was received into the state prison system in 2019 after being convicted of human trafficking of a minor, a second-strike offense, along with pimping, pandering and second-degree robbery.
Shortly before 3:20 p.m., officials said prison staff found his cellmate with blood on his clothing. After removing the cellmate without incident, prison staff found Swain unresponsive in the cell.
Medical staff performed life-saving measures on Swain and transported him to the prison’s treatment and triage area. Paramedics arrived at the prison and pronounced Swain deceased at 3:48 p.m.
Swain’s cellmate, identified as 58-year-old Gregory Clark of Los Angeles County, has been placed into restricted housing pending an investigation.
Additional details about the incident were not immediately available.
Officials said Clark was received in 2011 after being sentenced to 22 years for corporal injury of a spouse or cohabitant, a second-strike offense. In early 2021, Clark was sentenced to two additional years after being convicted of assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon.
Officials said the Kern County Coroner’s Office will determine Swain’s cause of death.