Vacaville, CA…California Medical Facility prison officials are investigating the death of an inmate as a homicide after the victim was discovered unresponsive in his cell with multiple injuries. On April 30, 2020, at approximately 4:30 p.m. an officer conducting an inmate count found 75-year-old Tuc X. Tran unresponsive in his cell with multiple injuries to his head and face. The officer immediately called for medical response and additional staff, suspecting Tran was attacked by his cellmate.

Staff responded and were able to restrain and remove from the cell 39-year-old James A. Norton.

Responding staff immediately began life-saving measures and an ambulance was summoned. Tran was transported to the prison’s Triage and Treatment Area while medical measures continued.

Paramedics arrived and assessed Tran, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries. A CMF physician pronounced Tran deceased at 4:51 p.m.

Norton was rehoused into Administrative Segregation housing and the Investigative Services Unit reported to the institution for crime scene preservation and evidence collection.

The Solano County District Attorney’s Office and The Office of the Inspector General were notified and contact with Tran’s next of kin was made today.

Tran was received from Riverside County on Feb. 2, 2015. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder.

Norton was received from Mendocino County on Nov. 20, 2019. He was sentenced to two years for cause of fire of forest land.

CMF was established in 1955 by the California Legislature to provide a centrally located facility to meet the medical, psychiatric, and dental health care needs of male felons incarcerated within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). CMF is a medium security medical facility located in the city of Vacaville in Solano County. Vacaville is located 37 miles southwest of Sacramento and 65 miles northeast of San Francisco.

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