Inmate kills convicted child molester in California prison attack, officials say
Jonathan Watson (California State Prison)
CORCORAN, Calif. - An inmate in a California prison is accused of killing a convicted child molester and leaving another inmate in critical condition, prison officials said.
Correctional officers said 41-year-old inmate Jonathan Watson attacked two other prisoners with a walking cane at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison on Jan. 16, causing multiple head wounds to both victims.
Both injured inmates were rushed to the hospital, but one of the prisoners, identified as 48-year-old David Bobb, succumbed to his injuries while en route. The other inmate remains in critical condition, officials said.
Bobb had been in prison since 2005, serving a life sentence for aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14.
Watson was already serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and intentionally discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury or death.
A 2015 analysis by the Associated Press found that male sex offenders were being killed at a rate double their percentage in California’s prison population, often because they are targeted by other inmates for their crimes against children.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.