Inmate from LA County accused of killing human trafficker in prison

LOS ANGELES - An inmate from Los Angeles County is suspected of killing another inmate at Kern Valley State Prison, officials said Monday.

On Saturday, guards found 41-year-old Darius Swain unresponsive in his cell. Officers said that his cellmate, 58-year-old Gregory Clark, was found wearing blood-stained clothing, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Life-saving efforts failed and Swain was pronounced dead by paramedics at 3:48 p.m., officials said.

41-year-old Darius Swain.

Following the death, Clark was placed in restricted housing pending an investigation. The Kern County coroner will determine Swain's official cause of death.

Swain was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, and has been at the state prison since March 2019. Alameda County had charged him with human trafficking a minor with force, pimping, second-degree robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Clark was sentenced to 22 years for domestic violence with a deadly weapon and past felonies by Los Angeles County in 2011, and received an additional two years for assault with a deadly weapon within the prison in 2021.