Death row inmate from Thousand Palms dies in prison at 40

A Thousand Palms man on death row for multiple murders died in prison at the age of 40.

Juan Inzunza, who was serving a condemned sentence at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, died on Thursday while receiving care at an outside medical facility, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced on Friday.

The department said Inzunza was found unresponsive in his cell at 9:46 p.m. on the same day of his death.

SQRC staff immediately performed life-saving measures and transferred him to an outside hospital for a higher level of care. He was pronounced deceased at 11:14 p.m.

Inzunza was housed in a single cell and there were no obvious signs of trauma, according to the CDCR.

The death is being investigated by SQRC’s Investigative Services Unit and the Marin County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Coroner Division of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office will determine his cause of death.

Inzunza was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in the murder of 56-year-old Victoria Supola at her Thousand Palm home in March 2018. Inzunza severely beat and strangled the woman during an unexplained confrontation on June 3, 2014. She managed to crawl halfway outside her trailer
to seek help before collapsing. The victim told first responders that Inzunza had attacked her.

Inzunza had been renting out a room at her trailer for several weeks prior to her death.

He's been in state prison since May 2018, originally at Ironwood State Prison in Blythe. In July 2023, Inzunza was sentenced for first-degree murder of an incarcerated person at Ironwood State Prison.

He was given a condemned sentence and transferred to SQRC.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any new developments.