SACRAMENTO – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are investigating the Feb. 23, 2025, death of an incarcerated person at California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) as a homicide.
At 1:21 p.m., officers observed incarcerated persons Tyler L. Yates and Jake T. Kennedy attacking incarcerated person Jonathan D. Rude on the main exercise yard. Staff immediately responded, quelling the attack by firing a warning shot. Officers immediately initiated life-saving measures and activated 911. Rude was taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area where emergency medical personnel continued administering lifesaving measures. A paramedic pronounced Rude deceased at 1:43 p.m.
Officers recovered two improvised weapons at the scene of the attack. No other injuries were reported. Officials have limited movement on the yard where the attack occurred to facilitate the investigation.
Yates and Kennedy have been placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the SAC Investigative Services Unit and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
The Office of the Inspector General has been notified, and the Sacramento County Coroner will determine Rude’s official cause of death.
Rude, 39, was most recently received from Butte County on Sep. 30, 2024, to serve four years for vehicle theft with prior vehicle-related theft convictions.
Yates, 30, was received from San Diego County on Oct. 9, 2017, to serve eight years for first-degree burglary and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury as a second striker. On Feb. 2, 2024, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder as a second striker, an in-prison offense.
Kennedy, 32, was most recently received from San Bernardino County on Feb. 6, 2020, to serve six years for carrying a concealed dirk or dagger as a second striker. On Jan. 9, 2023, he was sentenced to four years for assault by a prisoner with any means of force likely / great bodily injury as a second striker, an in-prison offense.
SAC opened in 1986 and houses more than 2,100 medium-, maximum- and high-security incarcerated persons. SAC offers academic classes and vocational programs and employs approximately 1,500 people.
Jonathan D. Rude (deceased)
Tyler L. Yates
Jake T. Kennedy
