An inmate jailed in Kern County for a Los Angeles County voluntary manslaughter conviction was under investigation Tuesday for allegedly killing his cellmate, who was imprisoned following an armed robbery conviction, also in L.A. County.
Staff at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano were doing a inmate count about 3 a.m. Sunday when they noticed that Tyrin Meeks, 31, was unresponsive in his cell.
“Staff immediately issued an alarm and began providing medical aid,” according to a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. “Meeks’ cellmate, Robert Green, was removed from the cell and placed in restraints.”
Despite efforts to save him, Meeks was pronounced dead within a half-hour, officials said.
He had been in CDCR custody since Nov. 29, 2014, after being sentenced to eight years for a first-degree robbery conviction that followed a previous conviction for a serious, but unspecified offense, according to department.
While he was incarcerated, he was sentenced on Sept. 1, 2022, to two additional years for assault by a prisoner with any means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, according to the CDCR.
Green, meanwhile, “was medically evaluated and remains in restricted housing pending an investigation by the (prison) Investigative Services Unit and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office,” the CDCR said of the 41-year-old inmate.
Green was placed in CDCR custody on Oct. 7, 2014, after being sentenced to 31 years in prison for a voluntary manslaughter conviction with enhancements for use of a firearm and committing a violent felony on behalf of a street gang, as well as possession of a firearm by a felon.
“He later received four additional years for manufacture of a deadly weapon, an in-prison offense by a second striker,” officials said.