A 24-year-old man was convicted on Thursday, April 23 of stomping a fellow inmate to death in Orange County Jail.
Irving Josue Morales, 24, was convicted of first-degree murder in the Feb. 5, 2025, attack that killed 38-year-old Juan Vasquez Pulido at the Intake Release Center at 550 N. Flower St. in Santa Ana.
Morales is scheduled to be sentenced May 21.
Pulido was in custody on drug-related charges when he was attacked in a cell with a handful of other inmates.
Deputy Brendan Le of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department testified that he went to have the newly booked inmates changed into jail garb when he came across the victim at about 7:40 p.m. One of the inmates said, “man down,” Le said.
“He was breathing very heavy, lying face down, gasping” in a pool of blood, Le testified.
Le called for help and medical staff and other deputies responded. Nurse Raychana Sinclair testified that the victim had lacerations to his head.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Luke Sapolu testified that Pulido vomited while in custody hours before the attack. After relieving himself, Pulido went to lie down again on a bench and rest, Sapolu said.
Morales is seen in surveillance video clutching at Pulido’s sweater a couple of times with Pulido brushing his hand away before Morales returns and the beating and kicking commences.
Sapolu, who watched hours of surveillance video of the two in the cell, said he counted Morales punching Pulido seven times in the head and twice slamming him on the bench. Morales appeared to pause for close to a minute and resume his attack in the video. In all, there were a total of 65 kicks to the victim’s head, Sapolu testified.
The two had no physical conflicts before the attack, Sapolu testified. And Pulido did nothing to defend himself, Sapolu said.
Pulido was rushed to Orange County Global Medical Center where he was placed in a medically induced coma and died Feb. 20, sheriff’s investigator Michael Swain testified.
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Sarah Rahman told jurors that she was “confident you will find this defendant committed willful, deliberate first-degree murder.”
Morales’ attorney, Tom Nocella of the Alternate Defender’s Office, told jurors that they would have to decide between first- or second-degree murder or manslaughter. The “intent to kill” is what jurors will be asked to focus on, Nocella said.
“At the end of this trial I will be asking you to find my client not guilty of first-degree murder,” Nocella said.
Orange County Assistant Sheriff Nate Wilson, who is in charge of the jails, said in December 2025 that in general, it’s not feasible to monitor the thousands of cameras in the jail at every moment.
“I’d rather have my staff walking the floor,” Wilson said, adding that video feeds are limited. “You can’t hear what’s going on, you can’t smell. We don’t want (staff) to rely on just watching a camera.”
Pulido’s daughter Maritza Pulido is suing the county for wrongful death. The lawsuit accuses the Sheriff’s Department of negligence, failing to conduct adequate safety checks and failing to appropriately supervise inmates.
The department declined to comment on the pending litigation.
“It was an incredibly brutal attack,” said attorney Kevin O’Hara, representing Maritza Pulido. “He was laying down, potentially sleeping. This sort of thing, shouldn’t be happening. Mr. Pulido wasn’t a career criminal. He wasn’t going to be there long.”
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