A lethal pattern of neglect in San Diego county jails

 By Alexander J. Schorr

October 28, 2025— A San Diego County Sheriff deleted 57 hours of video footage that may have shed light on a 22-year-old man’s death in a San Diego County jail. US District Judge Dana Sabraw and Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard  have sanctioned San Diego County for erasing this footage, which could have shown whether deputies or medical staff ignored the inmate William Hayden Schuck in the days before he died.

Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard, who has sharply criticized the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office failure to retain the footage, called this “shocking in the height of negligence.”

Additionally, Judge Sabraw rejected arguments from a county attorney that they video was irrelevant because it didn;t show the inside of the cell and would have only briefly shown Schuck being moved to a different cell: “It ought to trigger a process where all recordings— no matter how many days leading up to the death from that detainee’s time in custody— ought to be preserved," Sabraw said.

Judge Goddard’s ruling noted that the Sheriff’s Office has a policy requiring that surveillance video relevant to an in-custody death must be preserved for at least two years. The Sheriff’s Office saved 36 hours from the camera outside Schuck’s cell, but the remaining 57 hours were overwritten, even though the county received two preservation letters from the family’s lawyers between April and September in 2022.

What happened

William Hayden Schuck had been arrested on March 10 after a car accident for being under the influence of drugs and in possession of a controlled substance. According to an investigation by CBS 8 and the San Diego Union Tribune, he was placed in a temporary holding cell without a mattress for nearly five days. According to a deputy who escorted Schuck back from court the day before he died, he said he had to physically guide Schuck from wandering. Another officer recalled Schuck slurring the word “thirsty” and being unable to stand without assistance. In spite of this, Schuck was not taken to an infirmary.

Back in 2023, ABC10News covered the lawsuit filed by the Schuck family, claiming that despite them following correct protocol to preserve it, video of the area around Schuck’s cell before he died was deleted. Before his death, footage that was recovered showed  Schuck collapsing twice as he was being moved to a different cell, and was found unresponsive in the morning on March 16 of 2022.

An autopsy concluded that he died from complications of drug intoxication and dehydration. A medical expert hired by the family said that severe dehydration was the primary cause of death, whose report also described bruises, scrapes, and open sores across his chest, back, and limbs. “The circumstances of this case strongly raise the inference that Hayden was forgotten about in that cell,” said Lauren Mellano, one of the lead civil rights attorneys representing the family of William Schuck, and is a partner at the law firm McKenzie Scott, PC.

Last month, Judge Sabraw refused to dismiss the family’s lawsuit against San Diego County— one of at least 19 the county is currently facing over jail deaths, with available evidence suggesting possible negligence. The Board of Supervisors, or CLERB, concluded that deputies and medical staff did, in fact, fail to recognize and respond to Schuck's medical distress, which contributed to his death. The CLERB report made recommendations to the Sheriff’s Department, suggesting that jail video cameras be better positioned for greater coverage. However, CLERB’s recommendations are non-binding, and the department is not required to implement them.

What a report shows about jail conditions

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department provides law enforcement services to the unincorporated areas of El Cajon and as well as its county jails. The department, under both current and previous sheriffs, has faced significant controversies— particularly concerning the operation of its jails.

Many San Diego County jails have faced more recent reports of unsanitary conditions, overcrowding, and even inadequate medical care. Reports have appeared which have detailed widespread issues in San Diego county jails, including some that hold individuals in El Cajon.

An environmental health expert submitted a report as a part of a January 2025 lawsuit, which found that six out of seven San Diego County jails failed to meet minimum health and safety standards. The expert, Debra Graham, characterized those conditions as “filthy” and “deplorable,” and stated that these obvious problems appeared to be ignored. In an interview with KPBS back in February of 2025, Sheriff Kelly Martinez acknowledged that the jail’s aging infrastructure makes it difficult to keep clean. Martinez cited the 49-year-old Vista Detention Center, where a housing unit was closed because its doors would not open or close correctly.

Between January and May of 2024, Graham determined the prison conditions for inmates as unsanitary conditions, and said that it was “perplexing” how they had been allowed to deteriorate without intervention. Despite a Sheriff’s Office policy of conducting weekly hygiene inspections, with Graham’s report stating that if they occurred, then they were not “meaningful” or sufficient.

The report was prepared as a part of a class-action lawsuit that was originally filed in 2022 by the law firm Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld (RBGG). The suit challenges the county on various civil rights violations, including conditions for disabled inmates and inadequate medical and mental health care.

The Sheriff’s response

In the case of William Hayden Schuck, San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez has made no public statement due to pending litigation. A federal judge noted in September of 2025 that the county’s lack of response and failure to discipline staff after Schuck’s death showed potential “systemic deficiencies." In March 2023, Sheriff Martinez told ABC 10 News that the department was working to streamline the conservatorship process for inmates who refuse treatment, allowing officials to make medical decisions on their behalf.

Sheriff Martinez illustrated that when it comes to the opioid crisis and potential police intervention for addicts and even inmates, she stated that “it's important also to note that these individuals that come into our custody are adults, and they have a right to make medical decisions for themselves.”

Since 2006, more than 250 people have died in the San Diego County jails, which is a rate higher than nearly every other county in California. Sheriff Kelly Martinez, who has been in office for three years, and who has faced scrutiny over these deaths but highlights reforms— including the hiring of new staff, new medical intake procedures, and expanding treatment for substance abuse and disorder.

In an interview with CBS 8’s Marcella Lee, Sheriff Martinez said that she will continue to act in order to bring the number of jail deaths down: “we need more therapeutic spaces for things like for behavioral heart consultations with psychiatrists at intake,” she said. “The jails were never built for that, so we built out some space at the Vista jail for that purpose, but we’re still working with the limitations of our infrastructure.”

The San Diego County jail system, overseen by the Sheriff’s Department, has consistently had one of the highest in-custody death rates in California, with a significant portion of these deaths attributed to drug or medical problems. A 2023 Grand Jury found that between 2010 and 2020, 89% of county jail deaths were drug overdoses. Some activists and victims' families blame insufficient security measures, including the refusal to scan jail employees for contraband. Reports show a high rate of deaths involving fentanyl; while specific data for state prisons in the area is less detailed, statewide numbers indicate a surge in prison overdose deaths in recent years despite efforts to reduce it.

Sheriff Martinez had this to say regarding deaths by drug contraband: “People who are coming into our facilities and they’re being arrested [...] they’re hiding it in every imaginable place. On their bodies or inside their bodies. They’re hiding it in their clothing. They’re doing everything they can. Sometimes people understand that they're going to court and be remanded to custody. They don;t want to go without their drug, or they want to bring drugs in that they can traffic and so they’ll hide drugs on the person. So we’re sort of profiling individuals. We think [it] will be more likely. For a while, we were seeing a pattern of people going down to Tijuana [and] buying quantities of fentanyl, then coming back across the border and purposely getting arrested so they could smuggle that drug into the jail.”

Other conflicts

Sheriff Kelly Martinez has clashed with the county’s Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) over the oversight of jail healthcare workers as well as access to internal critical incident reviews.

During late 2024 and early 2025, Sheriff Martinez received public criticism for refusing to follow a new county policy aimed at limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities (ICE). The San Diego County Sheriff's Office acknowledged some infrastructure and acknowledged some issues with infrastructure, but maintained that it was in the process of making safety and health improvements, with Sheriff Martinez stating that it was committed to protecting the health and safety of those in its care.

In January 2025, a San Diego Sheriff’s deputy was indicted on federal charges for allegedly using excessive force against an inmate and falsifying his report. Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremiah Manuyag Flores was at the center of this controversy, where he allegedly grabbed the inmate by the shirt, shoving him against the wall, who collapsed to the ground with a head wound on the ground in a pool of blood. Flores was accused of  falsifying his report to cover it up, though Flores stated in a report that “no force was used.”

Sexual misconduct

The county has also paid millions in recent years to settle sexual misconduct lawsuits against deputies who worked under both current and former sheriffs. By September 2025, since 2020, San Diego County has paid $13.5 million to settle sexual misconduct lawsuits and claims against the Sheriff’s Office personnel. This cost is part of a pattern of misconduct settlements that span the tenures of both former Sheriffs Bill Gore and current Sheriff Kelly Martinez:

• More than $9.5 million has been paid to settle over 20 lawsuits against Richard Fischer, who abused dozens of women while on duty between 2015 and 2017; some of Fischer’s victims were women who called 911 for help. The county spent at least $1.1 million defending him in civil suits.

• San Diego County paid $60,000 to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a department employee who accused assistant Sheriff Richard Miller of inappropriately touching her on two occasions. Miller was however allowed to retire in 2018 after the sexual harassment accusations were made public.

• Between 2019 and 2022, multiple deputies working under Sheriff Gore were convicted of sex crimes, including rape, lew acts with a child, and illegal sex acts with a minor.

• In late 2024 and early 2025, the county paid out a combined $500,000 to settle sexual harassment claims against Sheriff’s Lieutenant Roberto Cardenas from two female employees. Despite the settlements, Cardenas was not demoted, and continues to work for the department.

San Diego County has paid 128 times more in sexual misconduct claims for the Sheriff's Office than for all other county departments combined since 2020. In statements regarding misconduct allegations, the Sheriff’s Department has consistently stated that it does not tolerate sexual harassment and holds employees to higher standards. The department provided copies of its sexual harassment policy and confirmed that all employees are required to undergo sexual harassment training.

The state of the jails: despite reforms, deaths continue

According to the June 2025 court filing from the plaintiffs’ attorneys, the expert reports described the condition of the jail system as “plagued by preventable deaths, substandard healthcare, widespread drug contraband, violence, environmental hazards, and inadequate access to lawyers and courts as well as an overincarceration of Black and Latinx individuals."

Attorney Valerie Sigamani reported in July 2025 that there was severe overcrowding in facilities in the Otay Mesa detention center, where detainees were forced to sleep on the floor. Sigamani noted that unsanitary conditions and poor ventilation were causing inmates to become ill. Additionally, reports of overcrowding in an older El Cajon jail design date back to 1988: back in 1989, a report highlighted design flaws after inmates successfully escaped a jail.

Later, according to an August 2025 editorial from The San Diego Union Tribune, there was poor or even neglected medical care, which referenced reports of inmate deaths. Before in July, lawyers told KPBS that clients had been sickened by neglected medical care, with one described as repeatedly having to ask for anti-itch cream for a client suffering from a rash due to dirty clothes and bedding. Also, a federal court granted final approval for a settlement requiring the Sheriff’s office to improve conditions for inmates with disabilities, such as physical modifications to facilities. However, the broader class-action case on other jail conditions remains ongoing.

Previously, former Sheriff Bill Gore had the highest rate of jail deaths of any major county in California, which prompted a state wide audit and efforts at legislative reforms. Back in 2019, the family of Elisa Sena— a 24-year-old pregnant woman who died alone on the floor of a San Diego County Jail, settled their civil suit against the county for $15 million. The suit also included an agreement requiring the county to update their training policies for jailhouse staff, as well as the county providing information about the extent of their use of alcohol and opioid withdrawal protocols for inmates.

Kelly Martinez was appointed Undersheriff in 2021, hedging up the Sheriff’s department after Gore resigned, and was later elected as Sheriff in 2023.

Martinez has implemented many reforms such as making overdose meds available to anyone in jails— even inmates— to save lives, and more medical staff, as well as provide screenings for drugs on intake. But deaths, though at a somewhat reduced rate however, are still occurring.

Despite a decrease in deaths in 2023 and 2024 compared to previous years, San Diego jails still have a higher mortality rate than other California counties. Since 2023, there have been about at least 27 recorded inmate deaths.

Inmates have died due to inadequate medical care for conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. For example, a 2024 medical examiners ruling declared the death of diabetic inmate Keith Galen Bach a homicide by neglect.

Illegal drugs are also a factor in jail deaths, with activists and families pointing to the shortcomings of the screening processes. Critics have specifically cited Martinez’s previous refusal to require scanning of staff for contraband, with the Sheriff’s Department being pressed to announce in July of 2024 that random drug and contraband screenings for personnel.

Martinez has been sharply criticized for transparency, and has been resistant to calls for greater independent oversight. She previously voiced opposition to a 2025 proposal for an Office of Inspector General and requests to attend the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board meetings.

For example, Santee's Las Colinas detention center for women as well as many other facilities such as Central Jail downtown and Vista detention facilities have had more issues with inmate deaths. The deaths at Las Colinas included an inmate being beaten to death by a cell mate who wasn’t supposed to be sharing a cell due to a history of violence. Some cases of inmate deaths were natural causes, but many seemed to be preventable.

Reports on inmate mortality show that San Diego’s jail system— including facilities in east County, has had one of the highest death rates in California's largest counties, with an average annual mortality rate of 246 per 100,000 inmates. Despite scrutiny from auditors, media and lawmakers, this crisis has persisted for years.

A 2022 report by the California State Auditor concluded that the San Diego Sheriff’s Department had "deficient policies and practices” that contributed to in-custody deaths. The audit revealed that between 2006 and 2020, 185 people died in county jails. A 2019 investigation by the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the common causes of death included suicides, illness, drug overdoses, and violence. Additionally, the Union-Tribune found that San Diego County’s overall inmate mortality rate was in fact the highest in California’s largest jail systems.

Despite the state audit and increased oversight, the high death rate has continued: in 2021, 18 deaths occurred in San Diego County Jails. In 2022, 19 deaths occurred, even with reduced jail population, and in 2023, jail deaths were the third-highest on record. As of early October, there have been nine in-custody deaths in San Diego County jails. This follows nine deaths in all of 2024, with the total of 2025 already reaching the total from the previous year despite the reforms implemented by Sheriff Kelly Martinez. The Sheriff’s Department Transparency Reports on in-custody deaths also show only a portion of all fatalities.