SCC Inmate Convicted Of Murder Receives Sentencing

Jamestown, CA – A Sierra Conservation inmate will spend the next 6 years during his existing sentence plus 45 years to life for the brutal slaying of another prisoner.

Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke reports Judge Kevin Seibert handed down that sentence Tuesday (1/7) to 49-year-old Carlos Hernandez, who was convicted by a jury last month of second-degree murder. As we reported then, the October slaying took place in the sewing factory of the prison. Hernandez grabbed a pair of scissors and thread snips and attacked prisoner Hubert Watts continuously, even after the victim was no longer able to fend him off. Additionally, the assault did not stop when a correctional officer used a collapsible baton in an attempt to stop it. Watts suffered thirteen slash wounds mostly to his face and head and a stab wound that pierced his heart.

At the sentencing, Watts was described as a big teddy bear by family members who said he was not a violent person. While Jenecke says Hernandez made a prior statement to the Court that he would do the same thing again.