LA County inmate accused of killing human traffickers in prison

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

On Saturday, guards found 41-year-old Darius Swain lifeless in his cell. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, officials said his cellmate, 58-year-old Gregory Clark, was found wearing bloodstained clothing.

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

41-year-old Darius Swain.

After the death, Clark was placed in special housing pending an examination. The Kern County Coroner will determine Swain's official cause of death.

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

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