Family of man stabbed to death in Salinas Valley State Prison files civil rights suit

by Tanay Gokhale, Bay City News February 12, 2026February 12, 2026

(L-R) The family of Joseph Mendoza and their attorneys, Celina Mendoza (wife of Joseph Mendoza), Zina Kumetat (mother), Adanté Pointer of Pointer & Buena LLP, Bryan Harrison of Harrison Kristopher LLP, and Ismael Mendoza (father) announce the filing of a civil rights suit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at a press conference in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. Mendoza, 36, was stabbed to death in the Salinas Valley State Prison, and his family alleges that prison guards acted negligently by not intervening during the attack. (Tanay Gokhale/Bay City News)

The family of a man who was stabbed to death in Salinas Valley State Prison has filed a civil rights lawsuit alleging negligence by the prison’s guards, they said at a press conference held Wednesday in Oakland.

Joseph Mendoza, 36, was serving a sentence in the prison in Soledad in Monterey County when he was stabbed almost 180 times by two other inmates in the day room on April 8, 2025, according to the suit filed against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

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