Prosecutors to continue seeking death penalty in prison killing
Prosecutors will continue to seek the death penalty for a Kern Valley State Prison inmate charged with his cellmate’s death in 2013.
Deputy District Attorney Andi Bridges declined to waive death for Walter Tamayo at a brief hearing Thursday morning. Deputy Public Defender Paul Cadman, Tamayo’s lawyer, said he will challenge the legality of seeking death in this case.
Tamayo is charged with assault by a life prisoner with force likely to produce great bodily injury. It’s similar to a murder charge, but more specific to Tamayo’s circumstances since he was already serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole when his cellmate was killed.
Prosecutors say Tamayo killed 40-year-old Steven Brenneman in the cell they shared. Brenneman was found unresponsive Sept. 16, 2013, and pronounced dead about an hour later.
He died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Brenneman was serving an 18-year sentence for rape with force and violence, and penetration with a foreign object.
Tamayo, 40 at the time of Brenneman’s death, is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. His next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 3.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/brea...n-killing.html
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