CORCORAN – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials are investigating the death of an incarcerated person at Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (SATF) as a homicide.
On Aug. 18, 2026, at approximately 8:30 p.m., custody staff responded to a medical emergency in a housing unit and discovered incarcerated person Carl J. Anderson Jr., 41, unresponsive. Staff immediately activated 911 and initiated life-saving measures while transporting him to the prison’s treatment and triage area. Subsequently, paramedics arrived and pronounced Anderson deceased at 9 p.m.
Joseph L. Rountree, 43, was placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the SATF Investigative Services Unit and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General has been notified.
Anderson was most recently received from Contra Costa County on Aug. 6, 2025, sentenced to five years for assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury with an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.
Rountree was received from San Diego County on July 5, 2023, sentenced to seven years for assault with a deadly weapon with an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury involving domestic violence.
SATF houses minimum, medium, high, and maximum-security male incarcerated persons. The institution opened in 1997, housing approximately 5,200 incarcerated people and employing approximately 2,000 staff.
Carl J. Anderson Jr. (Deceased)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: CDCR PRESS OFFICE OPEC@CDCR.CA.GOV
