The mysterious disappearance of Deputy Warden David Torres became a major unanswered question in Mayor of Kingstown Season 4, with multiple characters suggesting he met a grim fate but the show leaving his ultimate destiny unclear.
Played by actor Clayton Cardenas, Torres was introduced as the right-hand man to the new prison warden, Nina Hobbs (played by Edie Falco), at Anchor Bay Prison. His character’s sudden and unresolved exit later in the season, linked to a violent cartel dispute, fueled significant speculation among viewers about whether he was killed or simply vanished.
The fourth season of the Paramount+ crime drama, which premiered on October 26, 2025, saw Mike McLusky (Jeremy Renner) navigating a dangerous new power vacuum. Torres’s role, though not central to the main clashes between Mike, gangster Frank Moses, and the Crips, became a key example of the show’s brutal, often-unseen consequences.
Deputy Warden David Torres was positioned as a key part of Warden Nina Hobbs’s administration at Anchor Bay Prison. As her second-in-command, he was involved in the prison’s operations and the delicate, corrupt balance of power it maintained with outside forces.
His downfall was connected to a major criminal incident: the hijacking of a fuel truck belonging to the powerful Colombian cartel. The shipment was intended for the prison, and its loss represented a massive financial hit and a severe breach of the cartel’s arrangements with prison officials. Following the attack, Warden Hobbs needed someone to blame to appease the cartel’s ruthless leader, Cortez.
In the episode “Teeth and Tissue,” it is revealed that Torres did not show up for work. Warden Hobbs provides the first explanation, telling other characters that Torres had “tendered his resignation.” However, this official story is immediately cast into doubt. Mike McLusky later offers a much darker interpretation of events, suggesting Torres “got himself sacrificed.”
The implication from Nina Hobbs’s own dialogue supports Mike’s theory. She indicates that the cartel “got the one” who was responsible for the botched shipment, heavily suggesting that Torres was killed as retribution for the lost drugs and money. Despite these strong hints, the season never shows Torres’s fate on screen, leaving his status officially unresolved.
Torres’s story arc is a direct window into the pervasive corruption and deadly external pressures that define Kingstown. The prison is not an isolated institution but a hub controlled by rival gangs and cartels. As deputy warden, Torres was a crucial node in this network.
His alleged responsibility for the failed shipment highlights the extreme risks of working within this system. When a deal with a group as violent as the Colombians goes wrong, someone must pay the price—often with their life. Warden Hobbs, fearing for her own safety after being attacked by Cortez, seemingly offered up Torres as a scapegoat to protect herself and maintain a fragile peace.
In a revealing moment, Nina Hobbs tells Mike that Torres used to be “a good man” whom she corrupted.
This brief line of dialogue adds a layer of tragedy to his character, framing him as another soul consumed by Kingstown’s corrupting influence rather than just a corrupt official.
The show’s deliberate ambiguity regarding Torres’s exit has led to several fan theories. The primary speculation, supported by character dialogue, is that Cortez and the Colombian cartel murdered him as punishment for the hijacking. This aligns with the cartel’s established pattern of brutal, decisive violence.
Another theory suggests his “resignation” could be a cover for him going into hiding, either from the cartel or from a prison system ready to discard him. However, given the show’s gritty realism and the powerful nature of his enemies, this is considered less likely by many viewers.
A significant point of discussion is the storytelling choice to have such a consequential event happen off-screen. Torres, played by a known actor like Clayton Cardenas, was built up as part of the new warden’s regime only to vanish without a death scene or concrete confirmation. Some reviewers noted this left his storyline feeling incomplete or rushed.
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The role of David Torres was a recurring part for actor Clayton Cardenas, who is best known for his role as Angel Reyes on Mayans M.C.. His casting was announced in January 2025 as part of the new characters joining the series for its fourth season.
While Torres’s screen time was limited, his character served an important narrative purpose. His fate exemplifies a recurring theme in Mayor of Kingstown: that violence and retribution often occur in the shadows, affecting the power structure in ways the main characters only hear about later. His disappearance is not a central plot driver for Mike or Kyle but is a telling detail about the world they inhabit—a place where even prison administrators are disposable pawns in a larger, deadlier game.
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