Inmate from San Diego suspected of killing cellmate in state prison

A man who was sentenced to state prison two years ago in a San Diego County courtroom is suspected of killing his cellmate earlier this year in a Folsom prison, state officials announced Wednesday.

Chase Jenkins, 38, is suspected of killing 23-year-old Anthony Francis Jr. on July 18 inside their shared cell at California State Prison Sacramento, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Though the alleged slaying occurred nearly two months ago, it wasn’t until last week that the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office officially determined Francis’ cause of death was homicide, CDCR officials said in a statement.

Prison officials did not say how or why Jenkins allegedly killed Francis. They said the prison’s Investigative Services Unit and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office are investigating.

Prison staff observed Francis “lying on the floor unconscious” inside his cell around 6:40 p.m. July 18, according to officials. He was immediately taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area, where a paramedic pronounced him dead just before 7:25 p.m.

Jenkins was the only person in the cell with Francis when he was fatally injured, according to CDCR officials. He has been placed in a restricted housing unit pending the investigation.

Officials said Jenkins was serving an 11-year sentence for second-degree robbery as a second striker in a San Diego County case. He had been transferred from a San Diego jail to state prison in July 2023.

The San Diego Reader reported in 2012 that Jenkins, then 25 years old, pleaded guilty to three felony counts that included charges related to stealing a vehicle and burglarizing an inhabited home. The Reader reported that Jenkins had a criminal history dating back to when he was 18 years old and that he had been described in court as a “documented skinhead.”

Francis, the victim, was serving a 12-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter in Glenn County in Northern California.