Death of Inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad on September 21 Investigated as a Homicide

 

SOLEDAD – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated person at Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) as a homicide.

On Sept. 21, 2026, at approximately 12:50 p.m., correctional staff observed inmates 28-year-old Dillon King and 44-year-old Justin Learmont approach inmate 43-year-old Michael Loftin in a recreation yard and begin battering him with an improvised weapon. Staff immediately intervened, quelling the attack. King and Learmont were secured in handcuffs. An improvised weapon was recovered at the scene.

Staff activated 911 and initiated life-saving measures. A medical doctor at the institution pronounced Loftin dead at 1:19 p.m.

King and Learmont were placed in the restricted housing unit pending further investigation by the SVSP Investigative Services Unit and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General was notified.

Loftin was most recently received from Del Norte County on Nov. 24, 2020, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder with an enhancement for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death.

King was received from Riverside County on June 21, 2021, sentenced to seven years for second degree robbery as a second striker with an enhancement for personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon, eight months for attempted first-degree burglary, and three years for receiving stolen property. He was also sentenced by Riverside County on March 11, 2024, to two years for assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury as a second striker.

Learmont was received from San Bernardino County on March 26, 2010, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for attempted second-degree murder with an enhancement for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death, and assault with a firearm. On March 9, 2016, Monterey County sentenced him to 17 years for assault by an incarcerated person with a deadly weapon or force likely to cause great bodily injury as a second striker, an in-prison offense, with an enhancement for a prior felony conviction of a serious offence.

SVSP opened in May 1996 in Monterey County. The institution houses approximately 2,300 minimum- and maximum-custody incarcerated individuals and employs approximately 1,500 staff.