Around 10am on Sunday, as a fight between two inmates broke out in a recreation yard of Salinas Valley State Prison, other inmates backed away.
That's standard for a prison fight, says spokesman Lt. Eduardo Mazariegos, unlike a fight out in the public that bystanders might circle up to watch more closely.
"In a prison, everybody moves away," Mazariegos says. "You don't get a crowd of people making a circle. They just don't want to be involved."
Prison officials responded with pepper spray to stop the attack, but 42-year-old Jason Lewis died from his injuries.
Inmate Michael Ellison is the suspect, and is now being held separately from the rest of the prison population as prison officials and the Monterey County District Attorney's Office conduct parallel investigations.
Ellison used a prison-made stabbing weapon, Mazariegos says. In the course of their investigation, prison officials will look into the source of metal.
They'll also look into the motive for the attack, which Mazariegos says is especially important when it comes to prison officials understanding the sources of violence within SVSP, and how to most effectively prevent potential future attacks.
"Most of [our work] is keeping inmates safe from each other," he says. "Most of the investigation is to find out why these things happen to prevent them from happening again.
"A lot of violence has to do with drugs, or disrespect. Trying to find that motive and prevent it does keep the violence down."
Lewis was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole for a conviction of first-degree murder in San Diego County. He was admitted to the prison in Soledad on Dec. 30, 2016.
Ellison, age 35, has been serving a life-with-the-possibility-of-parole sentence since 2004. He was convicted for second-degree murder in Riverside County.
Since he was incarcerated 13 years ago, Ellison was also convicted in Kern and Kings counties for possession/manufacture of a deadly weapon by a prisoner and assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon. In 2014, he received a 14-year sentence from Kern County for assault with a deadly weapon.