Inmate Sentenced Nearly 10 Years For Deadly Jail Fight Over Soup

BANNING, Calif. (AP) — A man who killed a fellow Riverside County jail inmate in a fight over soup has been sentenced to nine years and eight months in state prison.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise says 21-year-old Damien Miranda of Corona was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to felony assault.

Authorities say Miranda knocked 27-year-old Pedro Sepulveda of Riverside into a coma during a Jan. 21 fight in the day room at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

Sepulveda never regained consciousness and died later that day.

Sepulveda was awaiting trial on charges that included resisting arrest, assault with a deadly weapon, hitting his spouse and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Miranda has convictions for battery, vandalism and smuggling a controlled substance into jail.

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