Oakland man cut up, stuffed in trash in grisly Solano prison slaying

In this photo taken Wednesday May 20, 2015, Correctional Officer D. Rosario walks drug-sniffing dog Bentley, a 3-year-old Labrador retriever, through the main yard at California State Prison, Solano in Vacaville, Calif. less In this photo taken Wednesday May 20, 2015, Correctional Officer D. Rosario walks drug-sniffing dog Bentley, a 3-year-old Labrador retriever, through the main yard at California State Prison, Solano in ... more Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland man cut up, stuffed in trash in grisly Solano prison slaying 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A slain Solano State Prison inmate from Oakland had been sawed open, with his internal organs removed, and was found stuffed into a bathroom trash can, prison officials confirmed Friday.

The discovery was made May 4 only a few steps from the cell of the 24-year-old inmate, Nicholas Anthony Rodriguez, who had been serving an eight-year sentence for robbery.

Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said the prison is investigating the killing as well as a riot that occurred among five dozen inmates several hours before.

Photo of suspect Jesus Perez in #Vacaville murder, cellmate found sawed nearly in 2, organs removed, body in garbage pic.twitter.com/xekyuV4vhR — Betty Yu (@BettyKPIX) July 10, 2015

Three prisoners and a guard were injured in the riot. Thornton said the two events were linked, but said she could provide no further details.

Among the questions investigators want to answer are how the killing occurred, what weapon was used to mutilate the body, and why it took guards five hours to find Rodriguez’s body after he was reported missing.

The Associated Press first reported the details of Rodriguez’s death after obtaining an autopsy report under a public records request. Rodriguez had been killed by blows to the head before his body was cut open, the report said.

No one has been charged in connection with the killing.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF