The California Department of Corrections Rehabilitation is investigating after an incarcerated man was allegedly murdered at Kern Valley State Prison.

Officials say 30-year-old Raul E. Mendoza, of Los Angeles County, was violently attacked in jail on May 13 — his fellow inmates, Andrew L. Espinoza, 29, and Frank Vasquez, 44, allegedly used two manufactured weapons to assault Mendoza.

The victim suffered several puncture wounds as a result of the attack, and emergency responders transported Mendoza to a nearby medical facility. He died from his injuries three days later.

Both suspects have been placed in restricted housing pending the investigation as prison officials await the official cause of Mendoza’s death from the coroner.

Mendoza had a lengthy prison record. He was originally sent to Kern Valley Prison on June 15, 2015, after being sentenced to two years and eight months for carrying a loaded firearm in public while active in a gang, a second-strike offense.

The 30-year-old was then sentenced to 11 years for voluntary manslaughter with an enhancement for use of a firearm in L.A. County on Nov. 3, 2016.

Espinosa has been in the state prison since February of last year. The 29-year-old was sentenced to seven years and four months for carjacking and evading or attempting to evade a peace officer while driving recklessly in L.A. County.

Vasquez has been at the facility since Dec. 1, 2015, when he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and second-degree robbery. He also received enhancements for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury or death.

The motive for the alleged attack is still under investigation.

More than 150 inmates died in California prisons last year, according to nonprofit news organization Cal Matters.

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