CA prison staff didn’t stop murder, posted grisly footage online, lawsuit claims
California correctional officers failed to stop the brutal killing of a 36-year-old man in prison and later shared video footage of the man being stabbed to death online, a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the state by the victim’s family this week alleges.
Joseph Mendoza was attacked by two inmates with makeshift knives on April 8 on the floor of a Salinas Valley State Prison facility. For over a minute and a half, Edgar Frayre and Nicolas Young repeatedly stabbed Mendoza in the torso, back and eyes until he was incapacitated, according to video footage of the attack reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation identified Frayre and Young as the attackers in a news release on the day of the incident. The SVSP Investigative Services Unit and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office launched an investigation.
The federal complaint, filed in the Northern District of California, alleges that California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation staff failed to follow protocol by not protecting some in custody and by not intervening in the attack earlier. Additionally, lawyers representing the victim’s family argue CDCR staff invaded Mendoza’s privacy by sharing footage of his murder.
The plaintiff’s lawyers said the sharing of the incident on social media violated a law California legislators passed in 2020 following the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, which bars first responders from sharing footage of deceased victims.
CDCR spokesperson Terri Hardy said in a statement that the department does not comment on pending litigation.
The video of Mendoza’s killing, which appears to have been filmed from the perspective of closed-circuit television, has been posted to several social media accounts, said Bryan Harrison, an attorney representing Mendoza’s family, who are from Merced. Harrison said it’s clear that CDCR staff who had access to CCTV footage released it.
“The dissemination of this footage was malicious, reckless, and without any legitimate correctional purpose. It served only to gratify prurient curiosity, shock viewers, and humiliate (Mendoza) and his family,” the complaint reads.
The videos of her son’s death circulating on social media have traumatized Zina Kumetat, Mendoza’s mother.
“Who wants to see your son being murdered on social media?” Kumetat said in an interview. “It was the most gruesome murder ever … I have it in my mind when I wake up, when I get up, it’s there.”
In 2009, Mendoza was convicted in Fresno County to over 22 years in prison for robbery and attempted murder. Salinas Valley State Prison houses roughly 2,400 minimum- and maximum-custody incarcerated individuals.
‘Left to die’
The complaint alleges that Frayre and Young targeted the victim because prison staff confiscated a significant amount of contraband and controlled substances from Mendoza that belonged to gang-affiliated individuals in the prison.
Mendoza was affiliated with the Norteño prison gang, according to court documents, and was aware of the threats to his safety after the contraband was confiscated. He requested protective custody, but SVSP staff did not remove him from the general population, the lawsuit alleges.
The two attackers, who are allegedly affiliated with the prison gang, descended upon Mendoza in a “high-risk area” of the prison facility, stabbing him over 100 times in the torso, back, face, neck, head and eyes. The complaint states that CDCR staff failed to “deploy reasonable force to stop the attack.”
“Despite being armed with a Mini-14 rifle within reach and the training to use force to halt the assault, officers stood by and observed as (Mendoza) was butchered and left to die,” the filing states.
Later that day, CDCR released a statement about the attack, stating the staff “immediately responded and issued several verbal commands to stop, which were ignored. Staff then deployed multiple less-than-lethal use-of-force options, which ultimately quelled the incident.”
Harrison vehemently disagreed with that statement. He said video footage of the attack shows that correctional staff didn’t intervene quickly enough or with sufficient force to stop the repeated stabbing.
“They’re trained to respond to lethal force with lethal force,” Harrison said.
CDCR announced Sunday that it is investigating its fifth killing at Salinas Valley State Prison in 2025 after Kevin Torres, 25, was found unresponsive in his cell.
Cell phone policy suspended following murder
Harrison shared an image of what appears to be an internal memo that was sent to SVSP staff on June 25, following Mendoza’s death and the appearance of footage of the attack on social media.
The memo, sent by Division of Adult Institutions Director Gena Jones, stated that CDCR began piloting a program in 2023 to allow prison staff to carry their personal cell phones while working. Staff were expected to sign an agreement outlining acceptable use of these devices while in the prisons.
“It has been brought to my attention that this policy has been violated. A video recording of an incident that occurred at Salinas Valley State Prison was posted on social media. As a result of this unauthorized posting, the previous authorization for the possession of a personal cell phone within the secure perimeter is being suspended, effective immediately, to allow time to evaluate this violation and assess our procedures,” Jones wrote.
The Bee has filed a public request for a copy of the memo and made multiple attempts to confirm the authenticity of the letter with CDCR officials but did not receive a response.
Kumetat, Mendoza’s mother, said her motivation for bringing this lawsuit is to ensure that no other family has to see their loved one’s death splashed across the internet or endure taunts by anonymous online viewers.
Kumetat said her son had a kind nature. He worked in the visitation room of the prison, and families of other incarcerated men adored his loving and joking personality.
“It’s never going to go away,” Kumetat said. “That’s something that we have to live with for our entire lives.
“We’re not OK.”
This story was originally published December 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "CA prison staff didn’t stop murder, posted grisly footage online, lawsuit claims."
