A wrongful death lawsuit was filed this week on behalf of the 10-year-old daughter of an inmate who died at the downtown San Diego jail last year.
The suit filed Wednesday in San Diego federal court alleges sheriff’s deputies assigned to the jail were aware that Jeremy Scott Thomas, 29, was suffering from medical issues, but failed to ensure he received the care he needed.
County officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Thomas was arrested May 27, 2019, on drug-related charges. According to the lawsuit, he told jail staff about his medical issues and history of drug addiction.
Two days later, he complained of chest pain and was taken to the jail’s medical unit, where he was kept for about six hours before being “discharged back to his cell,” the suit alleges. He was found unresponsive inside the cell less than an hour later and transported to UCSD Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office reported Thomas died of hypertensive cardiomyopathy with acute chronic methamphetamine toxicity, and classified the manner of death as “accidental.”
According to the lawsuit, Thomas should have been transferred to a hospital rather than spending six hours in the jail’s medical unit, but sheriff’s deputies “did consider decedent as a drug addict, and, as such, refused to provide necessary medical care at a competent medical facility capable of providing adequate diagnosis and treatment of a serious heart disease.”
The suit alleges the county has failed to adequately train sheriff’s deputies to recognize or respond when inmates are suffering from serious, life-threatening medical conditions, as opposed to symptoms of narcotics withdrawal.
— City News Service
