An investigation into a suspected homicide is underway at California State Prison, Sacramento following the death of an inmate, as reported by KCRA. Officials stated that 50-year-old inmate Kyle Cooper was found unresponsive in his cell with apparent head trauma in the early hours of Saturday.
According to the account given by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, it was around 3:55 a.m. when Cooper was discovered in the cell he shared with Rahshan Mackey, who has since been housed in restricted housing pending the investigation's outcome. Distressingly, after the staff attended the situation following an alarm, Cooper was transported to a hospital outside the prison facility where he was pronounced dead at 5:40 a.m., as per KCRA.
CBS News Sacramento notes that Mackey, who is 38 years old, has a criminal background that includes a 23-year sentence handed down in Alameda County for voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement for using a dangerous or deadly weapon. Additionally, he received an extra sentence for assault with a deadly weapon in 2024.
Before arriving at Folsom in 2021, Mackey had a sentence of 23 years for voluntary manslaughter and a concurrent sentence for assault with a deadly weapon. Cooper, who had been incarcerated since 2015, was serving a lengthy sentence of 37 years for robbery and illegal firearms possession as a repeat offender, according to documents from CBS News Sacramento. The Sacramento County Coroner's office has taken on the task of determining the exact cause of his death, which remains to be ascertained.
