Death Row Inmate Dies At San Quentin State Prison

Mill Valley CA

14 December, 2020

5:22 PM

Description

SAN QUENTIN, CA — A condemned inmate sentenced to death for the 1995 home-invasion slaying of an Orange County teenager died Monday at San Quentin State Prison. Noel Jesse Plata, 45, was found unresponsive at 3:50 a.m. in his cell and was pronounced dead at 4:37 a.m. at the prison in the unincorporated town of San Quentin in Marin County, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. No foul play is suspected, but prison officials said his death is being investigated. The cause of death will be determined by a coroner. Plata and Ronald Tri Tran, both members of a gang, were convicted for the first-degree murder of 18-year-old Linda Park, who was a freshman at Irvine Valley College. They tortured her into revealing where her family kept its cash and valuables and then killed her. Plata was admitted to San Quentin from Orange County on May 28, 1999, to serve life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder with the use of a firearm, attempted first-degree murder, and enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury and use of a firearm. While serving the life term, Plata and Tran were convicted of the home-invasion slaying on Aug. 15, 2008. They were both admitted to death row on Aug. 26, 2008. There are currently 710 people on California's death row.