Danny Aguilar Killed in Attack at California State Prison, Sacramento — Second Homicide at Folsom Facility in One Week
Danny Aguilar Dies After Assault With Improvised Weapon
Danny Aguilar, 47, was killed on the morning of August 18, 2026, at California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) in Folsom. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports that at approximately 9:30 a.m., staff saw another incarcerated man, Julio Caesar Madrigal, 36, striking Mr. Aguilar with an improvised weapon. Staff ordered everyone in the area to get down. When Mr. Madrigal did not comply, custody officers deployed less-lethal rounds.
Staff began life-saving measures and took Mr. Aguilar to the prison's triage and treatment area, where a physician pronounced him dead at approximately 10:00 a.m. An improvised weapon was recovered at the scene. Mr. Madrigal was restrained and placed in restricted housing pending a homicide investigation by the prison's Investigative Services Unit and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.
Mr. Aguilar had been in CDCR custody since 2006 and was serving a life sentence. According to CDCR, Mr. Madrigal arrived at the department in 2022 on a first-degree murder conviction out of Tulare County.
Mr. Aguilar's death came exactly one week after Walter Badelle, 37, was found dead in his cell at the same prison on August 11, 2026. Two killings in seven days at a single institution is not a coincidence a family should be asked to accept without answers.
A Death Witnessed by Staff Raises Its Own Questions
Unlike many prison deaths, this attack unfolded in front of correctional officers. That fact matters. When staff are present, the central questions become how the attacker obtained and carried a weapon, how long the assault lasted before it was stopped, whether the force used to end it was appropriate and timely, and whether the two men should ever have been in the same space to begin with.
Circumstances that can give rise to liability after a witnessed assault include:
Weapon control failures. Improvised weapons do not appear out of nowhere. Missed searches, contraband metal, and ignored intelligence about weapons on a yard or in a housing unit all point to breakdowns in institutional security.
Known enemy or incompatibility. If Mr. Aguilar and Mr. Madrigal had documented conflicts, were on separate enemy lists, or belonged to groups the prison knew to be in conflict, allowing them access to one another may constitute deliberate indifference.
Staffing and post coverage. Whether the area was adequately staffed and whether officers were positioned to intervene quickly are questions that the prison's own post orders and staffing records will answer.
Response time. The interval between the first blow, the order to get down, the use of less-lethal rounds, and hands-on intervention is critical. Video and radio logs typically establish this timeline to the second.
Medical care. Whether emergency medical staff arrived promptly and whether Mr. Aguilar received appropriate treatment before he was pronounced dead thirty minutes later.
Institutional notice. A second homicide within a week can support a claim that the prison's leadership was on notice of an escalating danger and failed to act.
Protecting Your Family's Rights After a Prison Death
The prison will control the narrative unless the family acts. We recommend that families take the following steps promptly:
Demand preservation of all video. SAC has fixed surveillance cameras, and officers wear body-worn cameras. Send a written preservation letter to the warden and CDCR's Office of Legal Affairs immediately, because retention periods for some footage are short.
Request the complete incident package. This includes the crime/incident report, use-of-force reports for the less-lethal rounds, staff statements, medical records, and the classification and enemy files for both men.
Ask the Coroner for the autopsy and toxicology reports. Consider retaining a private forensic pathologist for an independent review.
Gather your own evidence. Letters, phone calls, and visits may contain statements about threats, weapons, or fear that your loved one expressed before the attack.
File a government claim within six months. Claims for money damages against the State must generally be presented within six months of the death. This is one of the most unforgiving deadlines in California law.
Retain counsel experienced in custody death cases. Prison litigation involves immunity defenses, federal pleading standards, and a defendant that controls nearly all of the evidence.
Key Questions About Mr. Aguilar's Death
How did Mr. Madrigal obtain the improvised weapon, and when was the area last searched?
Did the prison have any prior documentation of conflict between the two men, or between their respective groups?
How many officers were assigned to the area, and where were they when the attack began?
How much time passed between the first observed strike and the moment the attack was physically stopped?
Were the less-lethal rounds deployed appropriately, and did they strike anyone other than the intended target?
What did the prison change, if anything, after the August 11 homicide?
The Legal Framework
Federal Claims Under 42 U.S.C. § 1983
The Eighth Amendment requires prison officials to take reasonable measures to guarantee the safety of the people in their custody. Officials are liable under § 1983 when they know of and disregard an excessive risk to an incarcerated person's safety. Failure to protect claims based on prisoner-on-prisoner violence are among the most common and well-established civil rights claims arising from prisons. The family may also assert a
Fourteenth Amendment claim for the loss of their familial relationship, and claims against supervisors and policymakers may be available where a pattern, custom, or failure to train caused the harm.
California Claims
Wrongful death, Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60, for the loss of financial support, love, companionship, and guidance.
Survival action, Code of Civil Procedure § 377.30, brought by the estate for the decedent's own losses; whether pre-death pain and suffering is recoverable depends on the filing date and current law, which an attorney should confirm.
Bane Act, Civil Code § 52.1, for interference with legal rights by threat, intimidation, or coercion, with attorney's fees available to a prevailing plaintiff.
Government Code § 845.6, imposing liability where employees know a prisoner needs immediate medical care and fail to summon it.
Negligence against individual employees, with the State generally obligated to defend and indemnify.
Time Limits
A written government claim is generally required within six months of the death before a state-law lawsuit can be filed. Federal civil rights claims and wrongful death claims in California are generally subject to a two-year statute of limitations. These are general rules with exceptions in both directions. Have an attorney calculate the deadlines specific to your family.
Our Firm Is Currently Handling Another CDCR Custody Death
Rodriguez Law Group, Inc. currently represents another family whose loved one also died in CDCR custody. That experience gives us a clear understanding of how the department investigates its own institutions, what records exist, and how quickly they must be secured. We are not representing any party involved in Mr. Aguilar's death, and nothing in this article is an accusation of wrongdoing against any specific person. The suspect is presumed innocent, and this article relies on publicly available information.
Frequently Asked Questions
Officers were there when it happened. Doesn't that mean the prison did everything it could?
Not necessarily. The presence of staff is the beginning of the inquiry, not the end. The questions are whether the attack was preventable, how quickly staff responded, and whether their response met the standard of care.
The suspect is being prosecuted. Do we still have a civil case?
Yes. The criminal case is brought by the District Attorney against the individual attacker. A civil case is brought by the family against the State and its employees for failing to protect your loved one. The two proceed separately.
Can the State claim immunity?
Public entities in California have broad immunity for injuries to prisoners, but that immunity has important exceptions, and it does not apply to federal civil rights claims. Individual employees can be held liable under both federal and state law.
How long will this take?
Custody death cases commonly take one to three years, and sometimes longer, because the evidence is held by the defendant and immunity issues are often litigated before trial.
What is the case worth?
Every case is different. Recoverable damages can include economic losses, loss of companionship and society, the estate's own losses through a survival action, funeral expenses, punitive damages against individuals, and attorney's fees under federal law and the Bane Act.
Lost a Family Member in a California Prison? Call Us.
Rodriguez Law Group, Inc. helps families statewide who have lost a loved one in a prison or jail. If your family member died at California State Prison, Sacramento or another CDCR facility, call for a free, confidential consultation. There is no fee unless we win.
Rodriguez Law Group, Inc. 1055 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 500 Pasadena, CA 91106 (626) 888-5206 — available 24/7 Se Habla Español |
This article is provided for general information and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Facts are drawn from CDCR news releases and media reports and may be updated as the investigation continues.
Sources: CDCR News Release, August 18, 2026; Folsom Times, "2nd homicide in a week being investigated at California State Prison, Sacramento"; CDCR News Release, August 11, 2026 (Badelle).
