Two inmates described as “suspected assailants” are being investigated in connection with a fatal attack at a facility in Central California, officials say.
The California Department of Corrections issued a media release late Saturday stating an investigation had been launched into the alleged homicide of an incarcerated person at Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) in Coalinga, which is located in Fresno County.
Per CDCR, staff responded to an incident inside the Dorm 1 Dayroom of the prison’s Minimum Support Facility at 2:07 p.m. Saturday and found an inmate, Brion E. Spidle, knocked to the ground and unconscious.
The 41-year-old was received from Shasta County on June 2, 2025, after being sentenced to four years for corporal injury on specific persons resulting in a traumatic condition.
Emergency assistance was immediately requested and lifesaving measures were initiated, but Spidle succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead less than 30 minutes after the incident was reported, according to corrections officials.
No weapon was recovered at the scene. Spidle’s cause of death has yet to be determined by the Fresno County coroner.
Prison staff identified Jorge Ortega and Victor Wence as the “suspected assailants” and both were secured without incident before being placed in restricted housing, the CDCR release states.
Ortega, 51, was received from Stanislaus County on Feb. 20, 2025. He was sentenced to six years for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury as a second striker and vehicle theft as a second striker.
Wence, 43, was received from Los Angeles County on Feb. 16, 2023 after being sentenced to 10 years in state prison for second-degree robbery as a second striker.
PVSP’s Investigative Services Unit and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office are handling the investigation into the incident for possible felony prosecution.
Opened in 1994, Pleasant Valley State Prison houses 3,074 minimum- and maximum-security male inmates.