COALINGA – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating the Jan. 24, 2024, death of an incarcerated person at Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) as a homicide. At approximately 10:15 p.m., officers were conducting security rounds and approached a cell occupied by Jaime Ambriz and Roberto Briseno.

The officer observed Ambriz unresponsive in the cell and immediately summoned for medical response. Responding staff initiated lifesaving measures, summoned an ambulance, and transported Ambriz to the prison’s triage and treatment area. He was pronounced deceased at 10:48 p.m. by Coalinga Fire Paramedics.

The cell was secured as a crime scene. PVSP’s Investigative Services Unit and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office continue an investigation.  The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Fresno County Coroner will determine Ramirez’s official cause of death.

Ambriz, 25, was received from Tulare County on August 8, 2023. He was sentenced to three years for assault with a deadly weapon.

Briseno, 24, was received from Los Angeles County on May 2, 2022. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder.  While incarcerated, he was sentenced in Kern County to seven years for assault by a prisoner with any means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, an in-prison offense by a second striker.

PVSP houses minimum and maximum-security male inmates. The prison opened in Fresno County in 1994, houses 2,700 incarcerated people, and employs over 1600 staff.