Drug suspect in San Diego held on suspicion of fellow inmate’s fatal beating

A 23-year-old man who was being held in the San Diego Central Jail on a misdemeanor drug charge is now being held on suspicion of beating a fellow inmate to death.

Joshua McDaniels, listed on jail records as 6-foot-4, 280 pounds, is suspected of attacking a 69-year-old inmate, “striking him repeatedly in the head with his fists and feet,” while the two were being held in the downtown jail.

The attack was broken up by deputies and the injured inmate was taken to a trauma center, where he died, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said.

No cause for the attack was revealed. The name of the older man is being withheld until his family is notified.

The medical examiner has concluded the cause of death was “homicide by blunt force trauma.”

McDaniels was being held on the drug charge in lieu of $500 bail and was set for arraignment Wednesday. He is now being held without bail on a felony murder charge, the Sheriff’s Department said.