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Family of inmate stabbed 180 times & killed files lawsuit
Family of inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison says they learned he was stabbed nearly 180 times and killed from videos posted online of the attack.
SOLEDAD, Calif. - WARNING: The details and photos in this story may be disturbing for some readers.
A 36-year-old man was stabbed nearly 180 times at a California state prison and someone inside captured video of the gruesome death before leaking it to the outside, where it went viral on social media.
Man stabbed nearly 180 times
On Wednesday, civil rights attorneys representing the family of Joseph Mendoza of Merced, Calif. – who was killed April 8, 2025, at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, Monterey County – spoke about their federal wrongful lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where they alleged correctional officers acted with "deliberate indifference."
Despite being armed and trained to halt assaults, "officers stood by and observed as [Mendoza] was butchered and left to die," his lawyers alleged.
In addition, the lawyers said that sharing video of the death from inside the prison violates a 2020 law barring first responders from sharing footage of victims who died, following what happened to basketball legend Kobe Bryant, where public safety personnel shared video of him after he died in a helicopter crash.
"We're still grieving," his father, Ismael Mendoza, told KTVU. "I've had sleepless nights. There are days I can't function."
He added: "I'm not looking for revenge. I'm just looking that somebody else's son or daughter doesn't come in a box."
Video taken of stabbing
Joseph Mendoza was stabbed nearly 180 times at Salinas Valley State Prison on April 8, 2025. Photo: Pointer and Buelna Law Firm
The suit, filed in December 2025 in U.S. District Court in Northern California, does not name the person inside the prison who took or captured the video of two men kneeling over Mendoza in the day room of Facility C and driving a shank into his back several times – which they provided an edited version of.
Unclear who took video
It's unclear who captured the video. It appears as if someone took cell phone video from closed-circuit television inside the prison. In 2023, the lawsuit notes, that the California prison system piloted a program at Salinas Valley State Prison allowing staff to use their personal cell phones while on duty.
CDCR officials did not immediately answer that question, or say whether any staff has been disciplined for sharing that video to the outside. Spokeswoman Terri Hardy said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.
But it's obvious that Mendoza's stabbing death video was shared.
Mendoza's attorneys, Bryan Harrison, Stephen King, Adante Pointer and Patrick Buelna, shared an Instagram account where that video was posted, garnering thousands of likes. It's not clear how the Instagram user got the video.
The plaintiffs include his father, his mother, Zina Kumetat, Mendoza's estranged wife, Celina Mendoza, and his siblings.
"We know that this is an inside job," Pointer said at a news conference. "And it's someone who sent it out to others."
And after all this time, Pointer said, "We have not heard a peep from CDCR as to who did this….All of the officers involved should be summarily fired."
IG account showing the stabbing death of Joseph Mendoza inside Salinas Valley State Prison. Photo: Pointer and Buelna Law Firm
State denies claims
In court records, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Deputy Attorney General Paul Kozina denied the Mendoza family allegations of fault, including negligence, invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional distress and the fact that the officers watched Mendoza getting stabbed and failed to provide medical care.
On the day that Mendoza was killed, CDCR did send out a press release about his homicide – one of 16 in-custody deaths at Salinas Valley State Prison in 2025.
Out of those deaths, and including another one last month, there have been six homicides in roughly a year at this prison, which holds about 2,400 minimum- and maximum-custody inmates.
"This inmate-on-inmate homicide situation must be stopped," Harrison said at the news conference, noting there has been a drastic increase recently.
(L-R) Joseph Mendoza, Edgar Frayre, Nicolas Young. Photo: CDCR
Prison officials identified Edgar Frayre and Nicolas Young as his attackers. In the news release, the prison said that medical aid "was initiated" for Mendoza, but he did end up dying. The prison also said they put Frayre and Young in restricted housing pending an investigation.
Mendoza had been in prison since 2009 and was serving a 26-year sentence for robbery and attempted murder, along with charges of manufacturing a deadly weapon and battery on a non-prisoner. His lawyers identified him as a Norteño gang member who also was found with drugs in the prison. His father said he had been attending Merced College back then, and had hoped to be an illustrator for children's books when he got out.
Young was serving a 36-year sentence for an attempted murder in Santa Clara County, as well as another in-prison attempted murder.
Frayre was serving a 50-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter. Mendoza's attorneys identified them as Norteños, too.
CDCR recommended they both be charged with the homicide to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office in September 2005.
Joseph Mendoza was stabbed nearly 180 times at Salinas Valley State Prison on April 8, 2025. Photo: Pointer and Buelna Law Firm
What led up to stabbing
As Mendoza's family attorneys tell it, Mendoza asked to be place in special, protective housing after he was found with a "substantial" amount of drugs in January 2025.
But that didn't happen.
Instead, Mendoza was kept in general population. And, the lawsuit alleges, prison staff told others that Mendoza had taken the contraband and that he had asked for special housing, "branding him an informant and target."
This disclosure, the lawsuit states, violates CDCR confidentiality and safety protocols.
Then, about three months later, Mendoza was "brutally and savagely" attacked, later identified by Frayre and Young, who had shown previous "hostility" toward Mendoza, the lawsuit states.
Edited video provided by the lawyers showed the two men repeatedly stabbing Mendoza nearly 180 times.
The video is extremely graphic and viewers can hear the shanks going into Mendoza's body and being yanked out.
WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTO:
Joseph Mendoza was stabbed nearly 180 times at Salinas Valley State Prison on April 8, 2025. Photo: Pointer and Buelna Law Firm
Officers stood by and watched, while someone took video of the stabbing on a cell phone, according to the lawsuit and visual evidence.
No one immediately called for medical assistance, the lawsuit alleges. When staff finally showed up, Mendoza was already mortally wounded, the lawsuit states. Staff also failed to preserve critical evidence, the lawsuit alleges.
And on top of not providing immediate care, someone on staff at the prison "deliberately and/or recklessly disseminated graphic video footage of the attack and its aftermath to unauthorized recipients, including through social media," the lawsuit states.
And that's how the Mendoza family found out about the video leak and the graphic nature of his death on YouTube, three months after it happened.
"The true stab in the back is when you discover your loved one, dying on social media after the world already knows," the lawyers wrote. "No one deserves to die such a violent, painful and gruesome death. Nor should any family have to suffer from seeing a ‘trophy’ video or picture their loved one's death being made public due to law enforcement officers violating their oath and the law for entertainment purposes."