Family Of Baldwin Park Man Who Died By Suicide At Men's Central Jail Sues LA County, Sheriff

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The family of a 38-year-old man who killed himself in his jail cell has filed suit against Los Angeles County and Sheriff Alex Villanueva alleging jail staff denied him proper care before his death.

According to the lawsuit filed, Mark Carrillo, of Baldwin Park, was being held at Men's Central Jail at the time of his Jan. 23 death on a probation violation when he should have been transferred to the Twin Towers Correctional Facilities, which has medical facilities to treat inmates with mental health issues.

The complaint, filed Tuesday on behalf of Carrillo's widow and their five children, states that Carrillo had a history of mental illness, including schizophrenia and suicide attempts, and prior psychiatric hospitalizations and incarceration at Twin Towers.

Because of his previous record of care while in the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the lawsuit alleges the defendants "knew or should have known that [Carrillo] was experiencing delusions and paranoia and he was not taking his medication," during the month he spent at Men's Central Jail preceding his death.

Instead, the lawsuit alleges that Carrillo "was placed in general population and just prior to his death, he was moved into a single-man cell within MCJ, where [he] had no additional monitoring or supervision."

A sheriff's spokesperson said the department had no immediate comment on the lawsuit, which alleges wrongful death and violation of civil rights.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)