5 Inmates Charged With Murder in Jail Beating

Five inmates at a Castaic jail have been charged with beating another prisoner to death, apparently because they believed his misbehavior might cost all inmates privileges, authorities said Friday.

Miguel Adame, 22, of Sylmar died March 28, several hours after he was found beaten and unconscious on the floor of a 130-inmate dormitory at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Pamela Davis-Springer said murder charges were filed Thursday against Tommy Armijo, 22; Albert Garcia, 29; Paul Legunas, 26; Rudy Lucero, 28; and George Torres, 25. All are from the Los Angeles area.

Davis-Springer said no guards witnessed the late afternoon attack on Adame, who was being held at the jail on narcotics charges. Investigators had to rely on physical evidence and statements from inmates to determine what happened and who beat Adame, she said.

The reason for the killing is unclear, but Davis-Springer said it was apparently motivated by the suspects’ belief that Adame was responsible for earlier incidents in which jail guards threatened to revoke privileges, such as use of the jail store, for all inmates in the dorm.

“He was beaten in retaliation for some kind of conduct which threatened the revocation of the privileges,” Davis-Springer said. “It was one of those things where they said, ‘If you don’t fess up, everybody will lose,’ and Mr. Adame did not take responsibility.”

The incidents apparently involved an inmate calling out names and other misbehavior during a lineup for a prisoner count. Davis-Springer said it was not clear whether Adame was actually responsible for the transgressions.

Charges were filed against the suspects more than two months after the death because of the difficulty of interviewing inmates without fellow inmates learning of it, Davis-Springer said.

The prosecutor said there are no other suspects in the case.

Armijo is serving a 15-year sentence for rape and is awaiting a preliminary hearing on narcotics and weapons charges. Garcia is serving a 15-month sentence for assault and drug charges. Legunas is awaiting trial on a burglary charge, while Lucero is serving a 16-month sentence for a drug conviction. Torres is serving 16 months for receiving stolen property.