Death row inmate dies at Sacramento-area prison, cause under investigation

By Richard Ramos

A man on California’s death row has died while incarcerated at a Sacramento-area prison, state officials said on Thursday.

Armando Macias was found unresponsive in his cell around 7 a.m. on Thursday at California State Prison, Sacramento, in Folsom, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.

Prison staff began life-saving measures and called for an ambulance. Macias, 50, was pronounced dead at 8:01 a.m. by paramedics.

CDCR officials said the prison’s Investigative Services Unit is looking into the death, while the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office will determine the official cause of death.

Macias had been on death row since 2011 after being convicted of first-degree murder in Orange County.

California State Prison, Sacramento, which opened in 1986, houses more than 2,200 incarcerated people.