Prison inmate beaten to death was from Idaho Falls

IDAHO FALLS – A family is searching for answers and closure after an inmate at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna was beaten to death by two other inmates a short time before his scheduled release.

Authorities have identified the murdered inmate as Junior Alex Garcia, 26.

Garcia was an Idaho Falls native and, according to his family, was scheduled to be released only days after his murder.

“My brother Junior was an inmate at the Idaho State maximum prison in Kuna. On June 14, he was attacked by two inmates who assaulted him,” says Junior’s sister, Yessenia Diaz. “We didn’t get notified until the following day. They told us that it was a serious situation and he was in a medically induced coma. They told us when we got there that there was a possibility he wasn’t going to make it; he had blunt force trauma to his head.”

Authorities have not released the names of Garcia’s attackers, but in a brief press release, confirmed it was two inmates who initiated the assault.

Garcia was taken to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where when he arrived, his family was told he was responding well to medication and treatment for his head trauma.

DEATH NOTICE: Junior Alexis Garcia Rodriguez

“They told us that when he got there, he was responding to the medication, but overnight, it stopped working, and he wasn’t responding to the medication at all,” says Diaz. “They did a CAT scan on Thursday, which they said was very severe, and they said there was a possibility that he wouldn’t make it, and if he did, he would be in a vegetative state.”

At that point, Diaz convinced doctors to take another scan of his brain to find out if Garcia’s swelling had gone down at all. It hadn’t.

“The neurologist told us that upon looking at the CAT scan, everything was the same; however, she did find other stuff that she said was, unfortunately, non-survivable,” says Diaz. “On Thursday, he passed away and was declared brain dead at 8:02 p.m.”

Diaz, along with her mother, step-father, grandmother, aunt, uncle, and Garcia’s fiance, stood by as Garcia was pronounced brain dead. On Monday afternoon, he was taken off the ventilator.

Garcia was also signed up to be an organ donor, but due to the ongoing investigation, he was not approved to donate his organs to those in need.

“He was a lovely person. He showed his affection and love to everyone that surrounded him. He made an impact on a lot of people. His love for his mom and grandmother was unique. The bond he had with my grandma was unique; even to the day he died, we know that he was holding onto something tight because of everything that was going on,” says Diaz. “Once he saw or felt my grandma, that’s the time when everything shifted into him being declared brain dead.

According to Diaz, Garcia also leaves behind a 9-year-old daughter.

“He loved his daughter very much and myself; he was our world. Yeah, he committed mistakes like any other person, but at the end of the day, he wanted to change, and he did change,” says Diaz. “Not anyone gets granted parole in a maximum security prison, and he was able to demonstrate to them, “I’m gonna change my lifestyle; I’m going to do it.”

Garcia was serving time for a felony aggravated battery charge from 2018. According to court documents, Garcia got in a fight with a man at a bar on 1st street in 2018.

A witness stated Garcia pulled a knife on a man, and cut him on his left forearm multiple times. Officers state the man needed several stitches.

Garcia was later sentenced to a term of 3 to 10 years in prison to run concurrently with a second case he was already charged in.

In 2017, Garcia was convicted on two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia, where he was given probation. He later violated the terms of his probation and was sentenced to 2 to 6 years in prison.

According to Diaz, Garcia had called his mother just days before he died to tell her that he had been granted parole and would be out of prison within the next few weeks or days.

“He was a week from getting out and being with his family. He had called my mom just days before and said, ‘Hey Mom, I wasn’t going to tell you, but they’re gonna let me out; I’m gonna go home,'” said Diaz. “We never thought that going home meant he was going to pass away.”

Charges have not been filed against the two inmates who attacked Garcia. EastIdahoNews.com will update this article with any pending any court proceedings.

The family is raising money to help pay for Garcia’s funeral expenses. To donate to the GoFundMe, click here.

Taqueria Tepechi in Idaho Falls is also donating a portion of its proceeds to Garcia’s funeral expenses from 4 p.m. to 8 p.mm on Friday, June 23. They are located at 161 E 17th Street in Idaho Falls.