Family of man who died in Sacramento downtown jail in April sues county, Sheriff’s Office
The family of a man who died in April at the Sacramento County Main Jail has sued the county and its Sheriff’s Office.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Sacramento federal court, claims deputies failed to provide appropriate monitoring and medical care to Delion Johnson, 35, who died in the downtown jail April 5 after being arrested earlier in the day by the California Highway Patrol.
When deputies booked and processed Johnson the same day, they failed to adequately search him, and housed him in an area where he would not be frequently monitored, the lawsuit said. Deputies did not find the “illicit substance” he took into the jail, and after he was placed in a holding cell, he distributed the substance to the other inmates in the cell, then ingested “lethal quantities,” the lawsuit said.
Johnson was visible on the jail’s surveillance camera distributing and ingesting something from a small bag, but the deputies failed to monitor him, according to the lawsuit.
“(Defendants) failed to timely observe Delion Johnson experiencing a medical emergency but could have done so, including by responding to the holding cell more quickly and administering Narcan, if there was indication of an overdose; or, providing cardio-resuscitation measures, if there was a medical emergency,” the lawsuit said.
Spokespeople for the county and the Sheriff’s Office both declined to comment because they do not comment on pending litigation.
A Sheriff’s Office news release said deputies realized Johnson was unresponsive after announcing meal time.
“At approximately 3:30 p.m., deputies announced to a group of inmates in the booking area of the Main Jail that food was being served. The inmate did not move or respond to the announcement, and deputies discovered he was medically unresponsive. Deputies and jail medical staff attempted life-saving measures until the Sacramento City Fire Department arrived, but the inmate was ultimately pronounced deceased by fire personnel.”
A death report, including the cause of death, has not yet been released by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office.
The jail is violating the so-called Mays Consent Decree, a 2019 settlement of a class action lawsuit involving jail conditions, the lawsuit pointed out. A civil grand jury uncovered the violations in an investigation.
Johnson’s death was the third death of an inmate at the downtown jail this year. In January unhoused man Keith Still, 35, died of unknown causes, as an autopsy was not done. Also in January, Joseph Lee Wood, 52, died after choking on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, according to the coroner death report. Both were awaiting trial.
An online obituary page for Johnson is full of friends and family sharing memories.
“As you grew up you always had that big smile and a hug for me!” Johnson’s aunt Helga Childers wrote on the page. “You always made every one around you laugh. Each time I came into town to visit, you made me feel love, when you would come up to me and give me that big smile and big hug! Face Time was the best when we could all see each other. The last time on Face Time your words to me still ring in my head, ‘I got you Aunty Helga I got you!’”
