Murder at High Desert State Prison raises questions about facility's readiness

INDIAN SPRINGS (KTNV) – A homicide investigation is ongoing after an inmate was stabbed to death at High Desert State Prison. The incident raises troubling questions about whether the facility is prepared to handle the state’s most violent criminals.

“I don’t know what the motive was, but they both attacked each other with what I was told were 10-inch prison-made grips,” said Paul Lunkwitz, president of the Fraternal Order of Police of Nevada CO Lodge. 21.

Lunkwitz, president of Nevada’s largest corrections officers union, spoke out about the fatal incident involving two former cellmates.

Nevada Department of Corrections officials confirmed to Channel 13 that inmates were recently transferred from Ely State Prison, Nevada’s longtime maximum security facility, to High Desert State Prison.

“This is just another event in the cycle that’s going on in the High Desert right now,” Lunkwitz said.

Lunkitz said the cycle began this summer after one of Nevada’s largest prisoner transfers ever.

NDOC officials shared in their statement that the two men have a history together.

“Yes, we can confirm that the incident did occur and one person was killed. Because it is an active investigation, we cannot provide further details about the crime or the victim. We can also confirm that the incident was not related to a move to High Desert State Prison. The two were cellmates and had previously been cellmates at Ely State Prison. “They were cellmates for approximately 258 days and were subsequently housed in the same unit without any reported incidents or problems.”

Despite this long period in which events between the two were not recorded, Lunkwitz believes that their transfer to the High Desert under questionable circumstances may have contributed to what occurred.

“This isn’t an everyday occurrence for the most part, but it’s certainly starting to happen more frequently in the High Desert. Our men and gals on the front lines are subjected to completely inhumane treatment, much of which is largely preventable,” Lunkwitz said.

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Corrections officers began expressing concerns months ago about HDSP’s lack of infrastructure, personnel and training to handle the influx of inmates with violent histories. Despite their warnings, NDOC initiated the prisoner exchange in July, arguing that it was necessary to alleviate overcrowding and redistribute resources.

“It wasn’t rocket science when we told them we weren’t ready. Officers are not ready. The facility is not ready,” Lunkwitz said.

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Lunkwitz questions what else might happen if the prison’s limited resources are already dangerously stretched and officers fail to adequately monitor unstable inmates.

“We have officers who are faced with urine, feces, broken glass, fire every day, the chief tells me it’s one thing after another. “Bad things are going to happen, and that’s what we’re seeing,” Lunkwitz said.

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