Inmate Dead After 15-Second Assault At State Penitentiary

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (CBS4) -- A 35-year-old inmate at the Colorado State Penitentiary, Glen Young, assaulted another inmate, 23-year-old Gerardo Banda, on Wednesday, according to a press release from the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC).

Banda died after the attack, and local prosecutors are considering charges in the incident.

Guards responded to the assaulted which "lasted approximately 15 seconds," the DOC stated.

Banda was taken by ambulance to St. Thomas More Hospital in Cañon City then flown by medical helicopter to Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs. He passed away the next day.

The incident occurred in the Close Custody Management Control Unit at the prison.

Young has two previous incidents in the DOC system involving dangerous contraband and assaults on staff, per online criminal records. The first offense in April 2020 resulted in a 10-year prison sentence, another the following June added two more years to his stay. Young pleaded guilty in the both cases two months ago. Both sentences were handed down that same day.

What isn't shown by the records is the case that brought Young to the prison in the first place.

Banda, meanwhile, was serving out a six-year sentence for Vehicular Homicide, Vehicular Assault, and DUI, per online records.

Banda was the driver of a car that veered off a road near Carbondale and landed in a creek, killing one of its passengers, a 17-year-old girl, as reported by the Glenwood Post-Independent. Banda was 19 years old that time and not of legal drinking age.

The Office of the Inspector General is investigating Wednesday's fatal fight.