One killed in racial brawl at state prison

Thursday, July 15, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A prisoner from Las Vegas died Wednesday from injuries suffered in a racial brawl that involved 60 prisoners at High Desert State Prison in Indian Springs, prison officials said.

Eighteen inmates were injured in the Tuesday afternoon fight that started with an argument in the mess hall and then escalated into a rock-throwing melee in the yard, Howard Skolnik, associate director of the department, said.

"There were two distinct racial groups engaged, Hispanics and blacks," Skolnik said. "It doesn't appear to be gang-related, but that is still under investigation."

Jackie Crawford, director of the state Department of Corrections, said the fight was over within 10 to 15 minutes. No guards were injured, she said. The state Division of Investigation is interviewing witnesses and examining the circumstances that led to the fight.

All the inmates were locked in their cells and were to remain there until the investigation is complete. Prison officials would determine what steps to take after the investigation division completes its work, Skolnik said.

Crawford said the prisoner who died was Joshua Muniz. Muniz was serving consecutive 10- to 25-year terms for second-degree murder in Las Vegas. She said Muniz, a Hispanic, was a member of a Las Vegas gang in the prison.

Muniz was apparently hit in the head with a rock and then inmates jumped on him. He was airlifted Tuesday to University Medical Center, where he died Wednesday. The prison is about 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Three other inmates were treated at hospitals and returned to the prison, officials said.

In September 1998 Muniz, who was 18 at the time and had the nickname of "Boomer," pleaded guilty to the slaying of another teenager who was playing soccer with friends at Lorenzi Park. Marco Valadez, an 18-year-old senior at Western High School was shot to death.

According to newspaper reports, Muniz was a member of the 18th Street Gang, which had its roots in Los Angeles.

"These are young, impulsive and violent people," Crawford said, noting it was the first major disturbance at High Desert prison, which opened in 2000. "We are taking this very seriously. It doesn't happen frequently."

A few inmates started fighting in the yard and then the rest jumped in, prison officials said. The prisoners ignored warning shots from the tower guards who then skipped birdshot into the ground. The prisoners continued fighting.

Skolnik said Warden James Schmoig and Assistant Warden Charles McBurney were on the yard when the fight broke out.

He said Schmoig and McBurney, along with other unarmed corrections officers, ordered the inmates to stop and the convicts obeyed the command, lying down on the ground.

The situation, Skolnik said "was brought under control quickly" and the staff acted in a calm manner. Officers are not allowed to have weapons on the prison yard in case inmates try to grab the guns from them.

Keith Munro, legal adviser to Gov. Kenny Guinn, said the governor has been briefed on the disturbance. Guinn is chairman of the state Prison Board.

Tom Sargent, spokesman for Attorney General Brian Sandoval, said the office would prepare the charges and process the case if crimes were committed.

Skolnik said that the inmates are "violent people" and they are put together in close quarters. He said there is an occasional fight. But he said the Nevada prison system has "one of the best records on assault in the United States."