California prison officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated man at California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) in Folsom as a homicide. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said staff found Dennis Romero, 49, unresponsive in his cell on Wednesday, November 5, at 2:51 p.m. Staff called 911, began life-saving measures and moved him to the prison's treatment and triage area, but paramedics pronounced him deceased at 3:27 p.m. Romero's cellmate, Jacob Forbes, 23, was placed in restricted housing while the prison's Investigative Services Unit and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office investigate. Forbes has not been charged with any offence in connection with the death, and CDCR has released no cause of death.
Source: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) news release, Nov. 6, 2026
What happened on November 5
On the CDCR account, the sequence inside SAC on Wednesday afternoon was short. At 2:51 p.m., staff found Romero unresponsive in the cell he shared at the prison in Folsom, in Sacramento County. Staff immediately activated 911 and initiated life-saving measures while transporting him to the institution's treatment and triage area. Paramedics arrived at the prison and pronounced Romero deceased at 3:27 p.m. — 36 minutes after he was found. CDCR's release gives no cause of death, describes no injuries and names no weapon; the department states only that officials 'are investigating the death of an incarcerated person at California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) as a homicide.'
Source: CDCR news release, Nov. 6, 2026
The investigation — and what 'restricted housing' does and does not mean
Two bodies are investigating: the SAC Investigative Services Unit, the prison's own investigative arm, and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, which would decide on any criminal charges. The Office of the Inspector General — the independent watchdog over California's prison system — has been notified, as is standard in an in-custody death investigation. Romero's cellmate, Jacob Forbes, was placed in restricted housing pending the investigation. Restricted housing is an administrative placement used to separate a person from the general population while facts are established; it is not an arrest, not a charge and not a finding. CDCR has not accused Forbes of killing Romero, no charges have been announced against anyone, and Awaaz Punjab reports his placement only as the department stated it.
Source: Lassen News — CDCR release carried independently, Nov. 7, 2026
As of CDCR's November 6 release, the death is an investigation, not a prosecution. The department has released no cause of death, no account of any injury and no allegation against any named person. Jacob Forbes's restricted-housing placement is a standard investigative step, and he is presumed innocent of any wrongdoing unless charges are filed and proven.
Dennis Romero: nearly three decades in custody
Romero had been in CDCR custody for almost 30 years. He was received from Humboldt County on November 22, 1996, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder. His sentence grew three more times inside prison, each time as a second-strike offence: on August 17, 2000, Lassen County sentenced him to four years for possessing or manufacturing a deadly weapon while in prison; on May 16, 2016, Sacramento County sentenced him to two years for aggravated battery on a peace officer by gassing while in prison; and on May 31, 2022, Sacramento County sentenced him to one further year for the same gassing offence. He was 49 when he died, nine days short of the 30th anniversary of his arrival in the system.
Source: CDCR news release, Nov. 6, 2026
Jacob Forbes's record, as CDCR states it
Forbes, 23, is far newer to the system. CDCR says he was received from Stanislaus County on April 11, 2024, sentenced to three years and four months in prison for second-degree robbery, second-degree burglary and attempted second-degree robbery — a second-strike offence. Nothing in CDCR's release connects Forbes to Romero's death beyond the shared cell and the restricted-housing placement pending investigation, and the department has announced no disciplinary or criminal action against him.
Source: CDCR news release, Nov. 6, 2026
The prison: California State Prison, Sacramento
SAC opened in 1986 in Folsom, next to the older and better-known Folsom State Prison, and houses more than 2,200 medium-, maximum- and high-security incarcerated persons. It offers academic classes and vocational programmes and employs approximately 1,500 people, CDCR says. It is one of the state's higher-security institutions, and its population includes many men serving long and life sentences — Romero among them.
Source: CDCR news release, Nov. 6, 2026
The second homicide investigation at SAC in under two weeks
This is not the prison's first homicide investigation this autumn. On October 26, less than two weeks before Romero was found, incarcerated person Carlos Montenegro, 39, died at SAC after an attack in a housing unit, and CDCR investigated that death as a homicide as well — a case Awaaz Punjab reported at the time. Two deaths investigated as homicides at one institution within ten days will focus attention on conditions inside SAC's housing units; CDCR's November 6 release does not address the earlier case or any pattern, and no official has linked the two deaths.
Source: CDCR reporting on the Oct. 26 Montenegro death at SAC, carried by Awaaz Punjab, Oct. 2026
What is solid
- Staff at California State Prison, Sacramento found Dennis Romero, 49, unresponsive in his cell at 2:51 p.m. on Nov. 5; paramedics pronounced him deceased at 3:27 p.m. — CDCR.
- CDCR is investigating the death as a homicide; the SAC Investigative Services Unit and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office are investigating, and the Office of the Inspector General was notified.
- Romero's cellmate, Jacob Forbes, 23, was placed in restricted housing pending the investigation; Romero had been in custody since Nov. 22, 1996, serving life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder plus three later in-prison sentences.
What is only claimed
- No cause of death has been released, and CDCR describes no injury, weapon or motive — how Romero died is not yet public.
- Forbes has not been charged or publicly accused of anything; restricted housing is an administrative placement, not evidence of guilt.
- No official has linked Romero's death to the Oct. 26 Montenegro homicide investigation at the same prison.
What happens next
The next facts will come from the investigation, not from statements: the Sacramento County coroner's determination of the cause and manner of death, the findings of the SAC Investigative Services Unit, and the District Attorney's decision on whether the evidence supports criminal charges against anyone. The Inspector General's notification means the watchdog can monitor the department's own handling of the death. Until those steps report, the public record is the narrow one CDCR has set out: a 49-year-old man serving a life sentence died in his cell on November 5, the state is treating his death as a homicide, his 23-year-old cellmate is in restricted housing while investigators work, and no one stands accused. Awaaz Punjab will report the coroner's findings and any charges if and when they are announced.