A 26-year-old inmate undergoing psychiatric treatment ended the lives of the two men he shared a cell with at the Psychiatric Prison Hospital in Seville. The victims, aged 26 and 54, died from head injuries and suffocation with a fanny pack.
A 26-year-old prisoner, originally from Gambia and known as Mendi, has become the prime suspect in a double homicide that occurred in the early hours of last Monday at the Psychiatric Prison Hospital in Seville. According to prison sources, the young man repeatedly struck one of his cellmates, a 26-year-old from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the head until he caused his death. The second victim, a 54-year-old from Seville, was tied to the bed and suffocated with a fanny pack.
The events took place in the cell shared by the three inmates. After committing the crime, the alleged murderer sat on his bed and remained “impassive”, according to the officers who entered the room after the alert. The scene they encountered was horrific: a corpse on the floor with a pool of blood and the other tied to the bed.
A deterioration worsened by the death of his daughter
The same sources describe Mendi as a “very calm” inmate until about a month ago when he received the news of his nine-year-old daughter's death. From that moment, his mental state deteriorated rapidly. “He was very unbalanced,” investigators noted, and that imbalance intensified in recent weeks.
The trigger for the tragedy was a prior fight that forced the authorities to move Mendi to a different unit. On Sunday night, just hours before the incident, the inmate was attended to in the psychiatric service because “he was unwell.” The on-duty psychiatrist, after evaluating him, warned staff to “be very attentive to him” during the night rounds.
The macabre scene found by the officers
At 01:00 in the early morning, during the surveillance round, an officer observed through the cell's peephole that one of the inmates lay on the floor surrounded by blood. He immediately alerted the head of services, and both entered the room. The first corpse, very thin, showed “a crushed skull”. The second was tied to the bed and had been strangled with a fanny pack. Investigators believe that the latter may have been tied up while sleeping, with no chance to defend himself.
The young murderer was transferred to the acute module of the psychiatric hospital, a unit designated for inmates with severe psychiatric crises or requiring initial evaluation. Police Scientific, Judicial Police, judicial authorities, forensic staff, emergency services, and officials from Penitentiary Institutions arrived at the hospital to begin the investigation and proceed with the removal of the bodies.
The union denounces the deterioration of the prison system
This double murder has reignited criticism from prison unions, which have been warning for months about the progressive deterioration of the system. From TAMPM (Your Abandonment Can Kill Me), they believe that the penitentiary policy of recent years has led to an unprecedented increase in conflict within prisons. “The succession of homicides, attempted murders, mass brawls, assaults on officers, sexual assaults, and overdoses from extremely dangerous drugs reflects a crisis that can no longer be classified as isolated,” they denounce.
The union also points to a structural problem: around 75% of prison doctor positions remain unfilled, a shortfall that severely affects both healthcare and the ordinary functioning of prisons. “The penitentiary system is collapsing,” they warn, demanding urgent measures to strengthen staff, restore the authority of officers, and provide centres with sufficient resources.
Meanwhile, the judicial investigation continues its course. The alleged murderer, who was one of the 150 present inmates at the psychiatric hospital, remains in the acute module awaiting a determination of his legal situation. The autopsy of the victims and the analysis of the evidence will determine whether the young man will be charged with two counts of murder with the aggravating factor of premeditation.
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