Kern Valley State Prison Officials Investigating the Death of an Incarcerated Person as a Homicide

DELANO – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials are investigating the May 21, 2025, death of an incarcerated person at Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) as a homicide.

At 1:41 p.m., incarcerated persons William A. Nesler III and Edward R. Holden III allegedly attacked incarcerated person Timothy Whelan.

Staff immediately responded, first using verbal orders and then chemical agents to quell the attack. Staff activated 911 and transported Whelan, who sustained injuries consistent with an improvised weapon being used in the incident, to the prison’s triage and treatment area where he was pronounced deceased by medical staff at 2:12 p.m. No staff or additional incarcerated people were injured.

Two improvised weapons were found at the scene.

Nesler and Holden have been moved to restricted housing pending an investigation.

Officials have limited population movement to facilitate the investigation being conducted by KVSP Investigative Services Unit and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office. The Office of the Inspector General was notified, and the Kern County Coroner will determine Whelan’s official cause of death.

Whelan, 56, was most recently received from Los Angeles County on July 16, 2007, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder. He was also sentenced by Los Angeles County on March 14, 2005, to two years, eight months for discharge of a firearm at an unoccupied vehicle/dwelling and possession of a firearm by a felon, to be served concurrently. While incarcerated, he was sentenced by Imperial County on Dec. 3, 2009, to one year for possession/manufacture of a deadly weapon by a prisoner, and by Kern County on May 14, 2014, to four years for possession of a controlled substance, an in-prison offense as a second striker.

Nesler, 43, was received from Tuolumne County on June 20, 2005, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, and three years for manufacture, sale or possession of a weapon, to be served concurrently. While incarcerated, he was also sentenced by Sacramento County on July 17, 2013, to one year for possession of a controlled substance in jail/prison, and by Del Norte County on April 25, 2019, to nine years for assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to cause great bodily injury, an in-prison offense, as a second striker, with an enhancement for a prior felony conviction of a serious offense.

Holden, 35, was most recently received from Solano County, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, with enhancements for intentional discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury/death, discharge of a firearm and use of a firearm, and two years for possessing/owning a firearm by a felon or addict, to be served concurrently.

KVSP opened in 2005 and houses over 3,100 minimum, medium, and high-security custody inmates. KVSP offers academic classes and vocational programs and employs approximately 1,500 people.