Deaths in Riverside County jails: ACLU, families step up calls for outside investigation

Dozens gathered Tuesday in front of a Riverside County jail to demand outside investigations of the record number of deaths inside local jails this year and protest the sheriff's department's handling of the problem.

People gathered at noon in front of the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, one of five county jails operated by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

"No more jail deaths!" they chanted as they marched the downtown blocks near the jail and the county's courthouse and administrative building.

The protest was in response to the 13 deaths that have happened in the jails this year, the most of any year since data was made publicly available in 2005 by the California Department of Justice.

Families, supporters, the ACLU of Southern California and several allied advocacy groups are calling for state agencies to investigate the deaths, the county's board of supervisors to intervene and the sheriff's department to provide more information to the bereaved and the public.

Becky Shorty's son, Abel Chacon, died last month at the county's jail in Murrieta, where more than half of this year's deaths have occurred. Shorty is troubled by the lack of information she has been provided by the department about the circumstances surrounding her son's death.

“How’d they find him? What did he look like? They said he was on the floor on his mattress — how’d he get there?" Shorty said during an interview at the protest. "No answers."

The San Jacinto resident said she's learned more reading The Desert Sun than from dozens of calls to the sheriff's department. She and Chacon are tribal members of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, and she's been sent articles about the deaths by a relative in Thermal.

"We still don’t know the cause of his death and we already buried him," Shorty said. "I'm angry, I'm mad. We still don't’ have answers. Why do we have to wait?"

'I know you all can hear us'

Trino Matus, the uncle of Richard Matus Jr., who died in August, was among those who started the protest with a prayer, calling for strength and resilience for those gathered as they continue to demand information and accountability.

Dominic Martinez said he had been friends with Michael Vasquez since the third grade. Vasquez, of Menifee, died in May at the age of 20 after only being in jail for a few days.

"I know you all can hear us," Martinez shouted through a megaphone as he faced the jail's entrance. "Come out and pay your respects. Give these people answers."

The event comes a week after the ACLU hosted a virtual press conference in which the relatives of several people who have died shared their stories. They demanded more transparency from the sheriff's department, citing a practice of publicly withholding the names and suspected causes of deaths for months.

Richard Matus' mother, Lisa Matus, wasn't able to confirm his death for about a week and was only able to collect his belongings, including privileged legal paperwork, after a court appearance about two weeks later.

The grieving relatives expressed frustration about the sheriff's department keeping information from the public about the deaths and the failure of the department or any other county official to publicly acknowledge the increase in fatalities.

In addition to withholding information about the deaths from the public, the sheriff's department has shirked legal reporting requirements to the state's top cop. As The Desert Sun reported recently, the department broke the law when it failed to report at least two deaths to the California Department of Justice within the required 10-day timeline.

And when the department did report, it did so inaccurately. Administrative Deputy Coroner Allison Doubleday reported all but one of the people had been sentenced at the times of their deaths. Court records show that none of them had.

The sheriff's department has ignored The Desert Sun's inquiries on the deaths for months, including questions about whether an investigation is underway to determine why the reports were late and inaccurate.

'An oath to respect and protect'

It's not the first time the sheriff's department has operated on inaccurate information when the facts are readily available to the public through the county's court system. The Desert Sun revealed in 2020 that the department had released from jail seven inmates facing "third strike" charges that could have landed them a life sentence.

The practice led to Sheriff Chad Bianco appearing in court and saying the department didn't have the ability to determine if a person was facing a third strike when it decided who to release to relieve jail overcrowding.

But records showing conviction history are available to the public through the Superior Court clerk's office.

On Tuesday, the protestors and the advocacy groups read a list of demands, saying the lapses in reporting and inaccurate information warrant another department taking control of the death investigations to determine if they represent a pattern.

Janet Hunt, an outreach manger for Starting Over, Inc., an advocacy group that works with formerly incarcerated people, said she was there to "send a message of accountability."

"The sheriff has a job to do and he took an oath, an oath to respect and protect people," Hunt said. "These people deserve answers. And they're not getting anything. It's a disgrace. We pay these people to do this disservice to our own people."

Louise Kail lost her grandson, Justin Kail, in May. She and several other relatives of people who have died in the jail shared emails, letters and complaints they've filed with the California Office of Attorney General, the FBI and the California State Auditor, all asking for them to intervene and find the information that the sheriff's department has so far declined to provide.

She was told by the office of U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert that she needed to contact her county supervisor about her concerns. Kail sent an email to Riverside County District 3 Supervisor Chuck Washington and received a response Monday night.

"Riverside County works to keep the inmates in its custody safe," wrote Washington's chief of staff, Joe Pradetto, to Kail. "Following the death of an inmate, the Sheriff's Department works with outside agencies to review the incident and, if needed, make recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future."

Pradetto did not include what outside agencies he was referring to, but encouraged Kail to work with her lawyer to request information from the "County and Sheriff's legal team."

Despite the triple-digit heat, relatives and advocates stayed at the protest for 90 minutes. Common among the refrains they shared were words of emotional and spiritual support, and many families said that in addition to the pain of their loss, they have felt ignored by elected officials.

It's a feeling that John McDaniel, who works in outreach for Starting Over, said he often struggled with during his incarceration.

"They lock us up and they don't care," McDaniel told the others gathered, encouraging them to find motivation to keep going in the memories of the lost. "Love their souls. Love their spirits. They're not gone."

Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Deaths in Riverside County jails: ACLU, families seek outside probe