30-Year-Old Inmate Accused in Fatal Altercation in Murrieta Jail

(CNS) – An inmate at the Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta died in an apparent altercation with another inmate, sheriff’s officials said Friday.

Deputies responded to an unresponsive inmate at around 4:20 p.m. Thursday, according to Sgt. Richard Carroll from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Carroll said deputies and jail medical staff initiated medical aid, but despite live-saving measures, paramedics pronounced the inmate dead. The has been identified as 39-year-old Ulyses Munoz Ayala.

According to jail records Munoz Ayala was facing several

Details on the nature of the inmate’s death also were not immediately released.

Investigators with the Corrections Intelligence Bureau and Central Homicide Unit determined the inmate died in an altercation with another inmate, believed to be Erik Martinez, 30, sheriff’s officials said.

Martinez is jailed without bail. He has been in custody on suspicion of murder since Aug. 13, 2021.

Martinez is accused of an Aug. 11, 2021, carjacking and killing in Jurupa Valley.

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