CALIFORNIA — A Riverside County man who was convicted last year of first-degree murder in the jealousy-motivated shooting death of a 32-year-old Banning man is now suspected in a prison killing that included alleged help from fellow inmates who were previously convicted of murdering other incarcerated people.
Ronald Dean Ricks, 38, of Cathedral City is being investigated for his role in an alleged fatal attack on a fellow inmate over the weekend at California State Prison, Sacramento, according to prison officials.
Ricks, along with inmates Gregory Roach, 35, and Gregg Reynolds, 46, allegedly attacked inmate Randy Schlaepfer, 55, at about 9:10 a.m. Sunday at the maximum-security facility, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported.
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Prison staff saw the alleged attack and “immediately responded and gave multiple orders to get down, then used pepper spray and an instantaneous blast grenade to quell the scene,” according to CDCR.
Schlaepfer suffered multiple stab wounds and was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later by Folsom Fire Department paramedics, CDCR said.
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Ricks was also injured in the melee and was sent to an outside medical facility, where he was listed in fair condition. No other injuries were reported.
A possible motive behind the alleged attack was not released. CDCR officials said they found two inmate-manufactured weapons at the scene.
Ricks is a second-striker. On October 13, 2006, he was sentenced for carrying a loaded firearm and buying/receiving a stolen vehicle in Riverside County. On Oct. 13, 2023, he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and eight years for assault with a deadly weapon as a second-striker in the Jan. 16, 2017, shooting death of 32-year-old Banning resident Michael Christopher Gordon.
At the time of Ricks’ murder trial, Deputy District Attorney Josh DeGonia said the steps leading up to the killing began when Ricks heard that his girlfriend had been with Gordon at a casino.
Ricks became jealous, drove to Banning, shot and killed Gordon then drove off, DeGonia said.
Ricks turned himself in at the San Jacinto Sheriff’s Station after Banning police circulated photos of him and identified him as a person of interest.
According to his obituary, Gordon was born and raised in Banning and attended Banning High School. He is survived by four sons.
Ricks’ alleged collaborators in Sunday’s prison attack, Roach and Reynolds, were both placed in restricted housing pending an investigation, according to CDCR.
Roach has a lengthy criminal history, including a murder conviction tied to an inmate killing. He was initially received into CDCR from San Diego County on April 17, 2014, to serve three years for theft embezzlement from an elder/dependent adult, two years for possessing ammunition and two years for possession of a firearm by a felon or addict. In Aug. 2015 he was released to post-release community supervision in San Diego County but returned to prison on Aug. 31, 2017, to serve one year for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury. Then, on Oct. 15, 2019, he was sentenced to 12 years for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury as a second-striker. While incarcerated, he was sentenced on Feb. 2, 2024, to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder in the death of a fellow inmate.
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Reynolds was received from Los Angeles County on February 17, 1999, when he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder. While incarcerated, he was sentenced on June 8, 2004, to life without parole for first-degree murder of a fellow inmate.
Schlaepfer was received from Tulare County into CDCR on March 15, 1989, to serve a one-year and four-month sentence for second-degree robbery. On May 5, 1995, he was once again received from Tulare County to serve life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder. While incarcerated, he was sentenced on Jan. 1, 2003, to 18 years for assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, second-striker; and again on Aug. 7, 2015, he was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon likely to cause great bodily injury.
The Sacramento County Coroner will determine Schlaepfer’s official cause of death.
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