SVSP inmate in Soledad found guilty of murder & assault

Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced on Thursday, Janaury 17 that on Wednesday January 16, 2019 a jury found 34-year-old Brandon Keen, an inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison, guilty of murder and assault with a deadly weapon by an inmate. On October 4, 2013, Keen was found in his cell unharmed after he alerted correctional officers that his cellmate was “down”. The victim, 31-year-old Dimitris Kalatzakis, was found lying face up in a large pool of his own blood and the cell walls were covered in blood spatter. He was pronounced deceased at the scene. An autopsy revealed that Kalatzakis had suffered 6 stab wounds by an inmate manufactured weapon, had been beaten so badly that there was blunt force injury with broken bones throughout his face and that he had ultimately been strangled to death by a ligature. Kalatzakis had an anticipated release date of October 15, 2015. The jury also found that on August 31, 2016 Inmate Keen was fighting with another inmate, 46-year-old Mathew Jennings, in the day yard area of the Salinas Valley State Prison when correctional officers deployed O.C. gas to stop the fight. Inmate Jennings fell to the ground and curled into a fetal position with his back to Inmate Keen. Inmate Keen, with an inmate manufactured weapon, consisting of a toothbrush with two razor blades affixed to the handle, proceeded to get on top of Inmate Jennings and slashed his face and neck. Inmate Jennings survived.
After being found guilty of murder, Keen turned around in court and yelled to the Kalatzakis family that he would never apologize for his actions. Keen will be sentenced by Judge Timothy P. Roberts on February 22, 2019. He is facing 85 years to life in prison.