California prison authorities investigate murder after inmate dies in New Folsom brawl

Authorities said the death of an inmate at the California State Prison in Sacramento near Folsom on Friday was being investigated as a homicide after a fight with five other inmates.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said guards saw inmates Darryn Mayberry, Robert Keller, Tray Watson, Marcell Battiest and Otis Wyatt attack fellow inmate Darryl Hudson in the day room of the facility, known as New Folsom, shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday.

Hudson was allegedly struck several times by Mayberry and lost consciousness, corrections officials said. Guards broke up the fight by shouting orders and immediately called emergency services. Officials said they had “restricted movement in the yard” where the fight took place.

Hudson was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. Friday. Correctional officials said no staff or other inmates were injured in the altercation.

Hudson, 40, was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery in Contra Costa County in 2009 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. In 2021, he was convicted of assault on a non-prisoner in Kern County and sentenced to an additional seven years in prison.

The Sacramento County Medical Examiner will determine Hudson's official cause of death, the CDCR said.

The five inmates involved in the brawl have been placed in solitary confinement while correctional officials and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office conduct the murder investigation.

Mayberry, 30, was serving a 10-year sentence for second-degree robbery. Keller, 38, was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Watson, 58, was sentenced to 18 years for assault with a firearm. Battiest, 29, was convicted of attempted second-degree murder and second-degree robbery and served a life sentence without parole. Wyatt, 27, was sentenced to life without parole for second-degree murder.