BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Three men are facing trial in the beating death of an inmate at Wasco State Prison last year.
Benjamin James Kolehmainen, 30, Joshua Robert Mitchell, 45, and Tyler Keith Douglass, 25, are charged with murder and assault by a prisoner with force likely to result in great bodily injury in the death of Michael Angel Iverson, 42.
According to court filings, the three were serving time at the prison when they attacked Iverson on March 7, 2022, punching him in the head and face and continuing the assault after Iverson fell and stopped moving. They ignored orders to stop, the filings say, and guards pepper-sprayed them in the face.
Charges were filed in January. A readiness hearing is set for later this month, with trial scheduled in November.
