San Quentin Inmate Sentenced to Life for Prison Yard Stabbing of Child-Killer

A San Quentin inmate will spend the rest of his life behind bars without the possibility of parole for the 2010 prison yard killing of a fellow inmate, but will avoid the death penalty originally sought by prosecutors.

Frank Souza, 33, was already sentenced to a 60 years to life prison term for the 2007 killing of a homeless man in San Jose when he stabbed Edward Schaefer, 44, seven times in the prison yard in July 2010, the Marin Independent Journal reported. Souza has admitted to the killing in exchange for prosecutors dropping the death penalty. He will be sentenced in April.

Schaefer had just begun serving a prison term for a drunken motorcycle ride that killed a 9-year old girl in a Novato crosswalk.

Souza, who a court says has gang ties to white supremacists, admitted to the attack. "All I got to say is, 9-year old girl," he told prison guards following the stabbing.

Prosecutors in Marin County sought the death penalty for Souza, but under a plea deal accepted by the court, he'll spend the rest of his life behind bars, will receive no parole or special accomodations, and cannot choose the prison where he'll live in return for not being executed, the newspaper reported.

Souza's attorney said that the deal would not have been necessary had prosecutors not gone over the top in seeking the death penalty in the first place, he told the newspaper.