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Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad is Investigating the Death of an Inmate on November 29 as a Homicide


SOLEDAD – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating the Nov. 29, 2025, death of incarcerated person 26-year-old Kevin A. Torres at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) in Soledad as a homicide.

At 9:19 p.m., custody staff conducting a security check in a Housing Unit approached a cell occupied by Torres and another incarcerated person identified as 39-year-old Thomas Farias. Staff discovered Torres unresponsive in the cell. Responding personnel immediately initiated life-saving efforts.  

Torres was transported by ambulance to an outside medical facility, where he was pronounced dead at 10:49 p.m. by medical personnel.

Farias has been placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the SVSP Investigative Services Unit and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office for potential murder charges. The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Monterey County Coroner will determine the official cause of death.

Torres was received from Sonoma County on October 26, 2018, to serve a 19-year sentence for attempted second-degree murder with firearm-discharge enhancements.

Farias was received from Fresno County on August 24, 2005, to serve a 12-year sentence for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse/cohabitant, second-degree burglary, and assault with a firearm.

SVSP opened in May 1996 in Monterey County. The institution houses approximately 2,400 minimum- and maximum-custody incarcerated individuals and employs approximately 1,500 staff.

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