TEHACHAPI: Convicted Riverside murderer beaten to death inside prison cell

TEHACHAPI, CA — A Riverside man convicted in 2013 for the prior year’s murder of his long-time friend was reportedly beaten to death by another inmate at California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. The murder happened Friday, Feb. 16, inside a cell at the state prison, according to prison officials.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials who announced the murder investigation yesterday identified 37-year-old, former Riverside resident, Kevin Scott Mansfield as the man who was killed by his cellmate, identified as 29-year-old, Joshua Powers.

Mansfield was serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after his 2013 second-degree murder conviction for nearly decapitating 31-year-old, Joshua Michael Sebald during a “drug-fueled” altercation. Reports at the time indicated Mansfield and Sebald had been close friends since attending middle school together.

Powers, a third-striker from Tuolumne County, is serving a 33-year sentence for a 2017 conviction for kidnapping, use of a deadly weapon, first-degree robbery, two counts of false imprisonment with violence, two counts of corporal injury resulting in traumatic condition and making criminal threats.

In a written press release, CDCR Lt. Brian Parriott explained that shortly before 11:30 p.m. on the night of Mansfield’s murder, correctional officers were conducting a physical count of inmates within a housing unit. As officials were checking cells, they discovered Powers on top of and beating Mansfield inside a two-person cell.

“(Mansfield) was face down on the floor and appeared unconscious,” Parriott explained.

“Staff ordered Powers to stop his assault and used pepper spray when he ignored commands,” said Parriott. “When Powers continued to strike Mansfield, staff made emergency entry into the cell and used batons and physical force to remove Powers from the cell and place him in restraints.”

Correctional officers summoned CCI medical personnel and an ambulance to the scene of the bloody and violent attack and CCI medical responders attempted life-saving measures on Mansfield. Despite their efforts, when paramedics arrived at 11:49 p.m., they determined Mansfield had succumbed to his injuries and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Powers, who “continued to be aggressive with staff” even after he was pulled from his cell and handcuffed to a wheelchair, was eventually treated at an area hospital for injuries he either sustained during Mansfield’s fatal attack or while he was resisting correctional officers. Parriott described Powers’ minor injuries as “swelling around his eye and an injured hand.”

After Powers’ injuries were treated he was placed in administrative segregation, according to Parriott.

Kern County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating Mansfield’s murder and their investigation is active and ongoing.

Long-time friend nearly decapitated in “drug-fueled” 2012 murder

According to Superior Court records, before murdering Sebald, Mansfield had already been convicted of robbery, vehicle theft and possession of illegal narcotics. He had only been out of jail on bond for less than three weeks on another case when he fatally attacked Sebald with a retractable utility knife.

Court records and reports at the time indicated that Mansfield and Sebald met while attending Riverside’s Central Middle School. The pair often did drugs together and were known to have committed at least one burglary together.

Although Mansfield later pleaded guilty to Sebald’s murder, he blamed his drug use that evening and claimed he had no idea what he was doing when he attacked and killed his companion.

On the evening of March 27, 2012, Sebald, who was homeless, stopped by to visit Mansfield at Mansfield’s parent’s home on the 5900 block of Birch Street in Riverside. Mansfield lived in a section of the home’s garage, which had been converted into a small room.

Seeing his friend was dirty and in need of a shower and clean clothes after several days spent living on the streets, Mansfield offered Sebald a shower. He later also gave the victim some clean clothes and offered him a place to stay for the night.

By around 8 p.m. – over the objections of Mansfield’s mother, Julie Karr – Mansfield and Sebald had been drinking alcohol and using methamphetamine and another unknown drug. At some point a fight broke out between Mansfield and his sister over a cell phone.

Just moments later, as Mansfield’s sister was calling 911 to report the fight, Mansfield reportedly told Karr “something was wrong” with Sebald. Mansfield then wandered out of the house as Karr went to his room where she discovered Sebald, bloody and dying, on the garage bedroom’s floor.

Riverside PD officers who had rushed to the home after Karr called 911 to report Sebald’s murder found Mansfield wandering the neighborhood about twenty minutes later.

According to Karr, Sebald died wearing the clean clothes and new Converse shoes her son had just given him two hours earlier.

Riverside PD Robbery-Homicide Detectives later determined that after the altercation involving the phone, Karr ordered Mansfield’s friend to leave because of the fight and Mansfield’s drug use and behavior. After Karr left the converted bedroom, Mansfield and Sebald remained in the room. Reports at the time indicated Mansfield had been injecting methamphetamine when he suddenly turned aggressive and attacked Sebald. Mansfield reportedly pulled out a knife and slashed Sebald at least twice in the neck.

During subsequent court proceedings, prosecutors alleged the attack was so vicious and the cuts were so deep that Sebald was nearly decapitated in the brutal attack.

Shortly after Sebald’s murder his father, Lawrence Sebald, told Press Enterprise he did not approve of Mansfield, and described him as a “violent person.” Sebald’s father – a retired Riverside County sheriff’s deputy who had worked in the jails and knew Mansfield from his time as an inmate – described how Mansfield was violent and unpredictable and had been caught stealing medications from other prisoners.

“I told Josh, a guy like that … is not someone you want to hang around,” Sebald told PE at the time.

In spite of his father’s warnings, when he was hungry and felt he had nowhere else to go, Sebald continued to turn to his old middle school friend and reach out for help in times of need. On that cold, March evening, Sebald’s simple need for a hot shower and some clean clothes led to his gruesome murder; as well as the eventual, violent death of the long-time friend who admitted to killing him.

 

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Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.