DUBLIN — A man in county jail custody was arrested on suspicion of murder when his cellmate died after a brutal beating, authorities said Sunday.
Around 6 a.m. Sunday, deputies at Santa Rita Jail responded shortly after inmate breakfast distribution to a report of a medical emergency in a two-person cell in a housing unit, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.
When deputies arrived, they found Cesar Pajuelo, 70, severely injured and unresponsive on the cell floor.
Deputies offered emergency life-saving measures and took him to Stanford ValleyCare Medical Center in Pleasanton, where he died.
Pajuelo entered custody at Santa Rita on Feb. 9 after his booking on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a child and continuous sexual abuse on a child.
Pajuelo’s cellmate at the time, identified as Paul Stefano, 19, was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Stefano had been booked March 6 on suspicion of auto theft and possession of a stolen vehicle.
He was held without bail Sunday and faces an attorney and plea hearing Monday on the vehicle-related charges and an arraignment Tuesday at Dublin’s East County Hall of Justice, according to a county records check.
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.