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SALT LAKE CITY — An inmate at the Utah State Prison was charged Thursday with killing his cellmate nearly three years ago.
John Isaac Gallegos, 59, is charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony.
On Feb. 11, 2022, Kenny Duane Hall, 57, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Utah State Prison in Draper and died at a local hospital on Feb. 16. Hall's cellmate at the time was Gallegos. According to a search warrant affidavit served in 2022, Gallegos was the only person in the room with Hall and appeared to have blood stains on his pants when prison staff responded.
An autopsy determined that Hall had "numerous injuries to his face and body," and "the immediate cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head," according to charging documents.
As investigators looked into the death, an inmate in a nearby cell stated that he heard "loud thumps, and it wasn't the kind someone would make if they just fell off their bunk," the charges state.
"(The inmate) explained that he had heard rumors about Gallegos being a 'knockout king' and thought Gallegos was unstable," according to the charges.
Another inmate told investigators that Hall remained in his bunk during recreation time that day and that "Gallegos was acting weird and suspicious during recreation time," the charges allege. A couple of inmates stated Gallegos retired to his bunk early that evening, which was not normal.
Later, an inmate heard three "thumps," which he believed were the result of a fight, according to the charges.
"(The inmate) stated that Kenneth told him that he didn't feel safe in his cell with Gallegos, and Kenneth would not have been able to protect himself," the charges state.
When questioned by investigators, Gallegos "explained that he caught COVID, and something happened to his mind. Gallegos stated that he quit caring and didn't know why. Gallegos stated, 'But I'll stick to my story if you want, you know, that he got up and fell, he hit his head on the stool and then he hit his head on the thing,'" according to charging documents.
"I mean if I wanted to hurt him when he was knocked out, I could've stomped on him or something. I didn't," Gallegos told investigators, according to the charges. "I just threw the stick over cause I don't want you guys thinking I used a weapon, or something."
