San Diego Jail Deaths Crisis: $30 Million in Settlements, Zero Deputies Disciplined

The chart clearly shows the pattern: relatively high and steady increasing death rates (average 13.2) during Gore's tenure, a spike just before and during the 2022 audit/transition, and then a significant drop after Martinez implemented reforms in 2023-2024.

BLUF: San Diego Jail Deaths Crisis

Bottom Line Up Front: Sheriff Kelly Martinez's reforms have dramatically reduced jail deaths from a record 19 in 2022 to just 6 in 2024—the lowest in over a decade. However, this progress comes after she served as undersheriff during the crisis years, 20+ wrongful death lawsuits remain pending, the county has paid $75M+ in settlements, and critically—not a single deputy has been disciplined despite federal judges finding "shocking negligence" and "systemic deficiencies." While deaths are down, the absence of individual accountability suggests cultural change remains incomplete.

The Numbers Tell Two Stories

Progress Under Martinez (2023-2024):

• Deaths dropped 68% (19 in 2022 → 6 in 2024)
• 65% reduction in overdoses
• Zero suicides in 2024 (first time in 20+ years)
• New medical screening, staff training, and drug interdiction programs

The Accountability Gap:

• Federal Judge Dana Sabraw found: "Following Schuck's death, the jail staff involved received no feedback, guidance, training, or discipline by the county"
• 57 hours of critical video evidence deleted despite preservation orders—called "shocking in the height of negligence"
• Only criminal prosecution: Deputy who shot fleeing detainee got 1 year in jail
• Medical staff charged in Serna death: nurse acquitted, hung jury on doctor
• Civilian oversight director resigned, saying "there doesn't seem to be a desire on the part of the county to fix things"

Does More Need to Be Done?

Yes—For Three Critical Reasons:

1. Leadership Accountability Questions Martinez served as undersheriff (second in command) from 2021 during the worst years—18 deaths in 2021, 19 in 2022, including Schuck's death. She reversed her campaign promise to release internal death investigation reports and restructured the review board to "protect the county from legal exposure." The improvements suggest competent crisis management, but her role during the crisis years raises questions about how deep the cultural change goes.

2. Systemic Failures Persist

• At least 20 wrongful death lawsuits still pending
• Brandon Yates murdered by cellmate in 2024 after pressing emergency button multiple times while other inmates shouted—all ignored for an hour
• Keith Bach died in 2023 after his insulin pump beeped for 24 hours while he and other inmates begged for insulin
• Martinez opposed new inspector general oversight as "unnecessary" even as supervisors cited continuing deaths

3. Individual Accountability Remains Non-Existent The most troubling gap: in a system where 250+ people died over 18 years, where federal judges found deliberate indifference and shocking negligence, where video evidence was destroyed, and where taxpayers paid $75M+ in settlements—virtually no individual has faced meaningful consequences. Judge Sabraw noted the Sheriff's Office "has failed to learn from past errors and continues to experience deaths that might otherwise be prevented."

Assessment

Martinez's operational reforms are working—the death rate drop is real and significant. But three factors suggest the improvements may be fragile:

1. No cultural accountability: Zero disciplinary actions against staff involved in deaths
2. Resistance to oversight: Opposition to inspector general and withholding internal reports
3. Recent deaths show gaps: Bach and Yates deaths in 2023-2024 involved the same patterns of neglect the audit identified

Paloma Serna, after her $15M settlement: "The gap between policy and practice is where we lose our loved ones. We're living in that gap."

Verdict: The reforms are necessary and appear effective at reducing deaths, but insufficient to ensure lasting change. Without individual accountability, independent oversight, and transparency, there's no guarantee the improvements will survive leadership transitions, budget pressures, or public attention waning. The question isn't whether Martinez has done something—she clearly has. The question is whether she's done enough to fundamentally change a culture that allowed 250+ preventable deaths over 18 years while facing zero meaningful consequences.

 County's burden on in-custody deaths rises sharply after record settlement

Who Bears Responsibility for San Diego's Jail Death Crisis? 

San Diego County has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit over the 2022 death of William Hayden Schuck—the largest such settlement in county history—bringing total payouts for just two jail deaths to approximately $30 million in two years. Yet despite this staggering financial toll and a record of more than 250 jail deaths since 2006, questions about individual accountability remain largely unanswered.

The crisis raises a troubling question: In a system where deaths occur with alarming frequency and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, why has virtually no one been held personally responsible?

A Death Foretold

William Hayden Schuck, 22, died on March 16, 2022, just six days after being arrested for driving under the influence. His death occurred after he was placed in a temporary holding cell without a mattress in an area deputies referred to as "the back 40"—a slang term one deputy admitted meant people held there "could easily be forgotten during routine safety checks."

Schuck displayed clear signs of intoxication and drug withdrawal from the moment of his arrest. A nurse initially declined to book him, directing that he be taken to a hospital. Though he declined treatment, jail staff should have recognized his deteriorating condition. By March 15, he appeared in court unable to confirm his own name, prompting a judge to order an immediate medical evaluation. That screening never occurred.

The day before his death, video footage showed Schuck collapsing twice while being moved between cells. He was found naked with sores covering his body, with food and feces strewn about his cell. The next morning, he was found dead from drug toxicity and severe dehydration.

Critical evidence vanished. The Sheriff's Office failed to preserve 57 hours of surveillance footage from outside Schuck's cell despite having a written policy requiring two-year retention and receiving two preservation requests from the family's attorneys. U.S. Magistrate Judge Allison Goddard called the deletion "shocking in the height of negligence."

The Pattern of Impunity

What happened after Schuck died may be even more revealing than what led to his death. According to U.S. District Judge Dana M. Sabraw's ruling, "Following Schuck's death, the jail staff involved received no feedback, guidance, training, or discipline by the county."

This absence of accountability is not unique to Schuck's case—it appears to be systematic. When a Sheriff's Office official was deposed about the missing video footage, he acknowledged that "there probably isn't a single deputy in the department" who knows about the written video-retention policy.

The Schuck case is just one in a long line of preventable deaths:

Elisa Serna, 2019: The 24-year-old pregnant woman died alone on the floor of Las Colinas jail after a deputy and nurse watched her collapse and left her in her cell. She had been candid about drug and alcohol use during intake but was never placed in withdrawal protocols. She fell 18 times and vomited repeatedly before her death from pneumonia, dehydration, and neglected withdrawal symptoms. The county paid $15 million to settle her family's lawsuit in 2024.

Lonnie Rupard, 2022: The 46-year-old man was found dead in his cell from pneumonia, malnutrition, and dehydration, with a tray of uneaten food containing "insect larvae" next to his bunk. The Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide, finding that although deputies delivered food and water, they failed to ensure he was properly cared for.

Keith Galen Bach, 2023: The 62-year-old diabetic man repeatedly pleaded for insulin, as did fellow inmates on his behalf. His empty insulin pump beeped for nearly 24 hours before he was found dead in his cell. He had informed staff at arrest that he would run out of insulin the next day.

Brandon Yates, 2024: The 24-year-old was tortured and murdered by his cellmate—someone designated as a "bypass" inmate who should have been kept separate for safety reasons. Yates pressed an emergency intercom button multiple times and other inmates shouted for help, but those calls were muted and ignored for nearly an hour while his cellmate killed him.

The Accountability Gap

Criminal prosecution of jail staff has been extraordinarily rare. In Elisa Serna's case, both a doctor and nurse were criminally charged with involuntary manslaughter. The nurse was acquitted, and the jury deadlocked on charges against the doctor, leading prosecutors to dismiss the case.

The sole exception involves a shooting, not neglect. Former Deputy Aaron Russell was charged with murder after fatally shooting Nicholas Bils, an unarmed detainee who was fleeing on foot outside the jail in 2020. Russell ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and received just one year in jail with three years probation—despite being the only officer among four present who drew his firearm.

Judge Sabraw noted in his September 2025 ruling that the Sheriff's Office's failure to provide feedback, training, or discipline after deaths showed "systemic lack of reflection" that was "alarming." He found that testimony revealed "the Sheriff's Office has failed to learn from past errors and continues to experience deaths that might otherwise be prevented."

Leadership's Mixed Record

The question of leadership accountability is complicated by transitions and timing.

In February 2022, the California State Auditor released a scathing report examining 185 deaths in San Diego County jails from 2006 through 2020—one of the highest rates in California. The audit found the Sheriff's Department "failed to adequately prevent and respond to" deaths and identified "deficiencies with how the Sheriff's Department provides care for and protects incarcerated individuals, which likely contributed to in-custody deaths."

Former Sheriff Bill Gore announced in January 2022 that he would leave office early on February 3, 2022—the same day the state audit was released. Gore, who led the department from 2009 through early 2022, left behind a system the audit deemed fundamentally broken.

Sheriff Kelly Martinez, elected in November 2022 and taking office in 2023, has a more ambiguous position. She served as undersheriff—second in command—beginning in 2021, placing her in a leadership role during the period when Schuck and many others died. The Sheriff's Office has emphasized that Schuck died before Martinez became sheriff, but has not addressed her role as undersheriff during that period.

When questioned at a Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board meeting about deaths that occurred while she was undersheriff, Martinez said: "Neither of us were involved in the jails at that time, or detentions. I started in the jails when I started my career 39 years ago as a deputy. I've never worked in our jail system since."

Since becoming sheriff, Martinez has implemented reforms. Officials cite that 2024 saw the lowest number of in-custody deaths in more than a decade, with a 65% reduction in overdoses and zero suicides for the first time in more than 20 years. Deaths fell from 19 in 2022 to 13 in 2023 and six in 2024.

However, critics note Martinez has also resisted accountability measures. After taking office, she reversed her campaign promise to release internal review board reports on jail deaths. She later announced the board's mission explicitly included protecting the county from legal exposure "when an incident occurs that may give rise to litigation."

Paul Parker, executive officer of the Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board, resigned in 2024 after concluding "there doesn't seem to be a desire on the part of the county to fix things." He proposed hiring an inspector general with subpoena power and scanning jail employees for contraband after two deputies were arrested on drug charges, but his recommendations went unheeded.

Systemic Failure, Diffuse Responsibility

The jail death crisis reveals a system where responsibility is so diffused that accountability becomes nearly impossible.

Deputies and medical staff make the immediate decisions that lead to deaths—failing to check on inmates, ignoring medical emergencies, not following protocols. Yet Judge Sabraw found that "systemic deficiencies" in policies and training set staff up to fail.

Jail commanders and the Sheriff's Office leadership create those policies and training programs—or fail to. Yet they operate within budgets and oversight structures set by the County Board of Supervisors.

The Board of Supervisors controls funding and provides oversight. Senate leader Toni Atkins noted at a 2023 hearing that San Diego County has spent nearly $50 million to settle in-custody death lawsuits in just five years. Yet supervisors have resisted stronger oversight measures, with some arguing the sheriff needs more resources, not more accountability.

Only recently, in October 2025, did supervisors vote to move forward with creating an Office of Inspector General and expanding the Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board's authority to investigate jail medical staff. Sheriff Martinez opposed the moves as "unnecessary" and a waste of resources.

Meanwhile, voters elect sheriffs but rarely have complete information about jail conditions. When Martinez ran for sheriff in 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board noted she said "the right things about jail deaths" but opposed random drug screening of staff and proposals to expand oversight—positions the board found troubling.

The Cost Beyond Money

The financial toll is staggering—approximately $30 million for just the Schuck and Serna settlements, with at least 20 additional wrongful-death lawsuits pending. Total payments by county taxpayers since 2019 for Sheriff's Department negligence and misconduct have exceeded $75 million.

But the human cost transcends any dollar figure. Sabrina Schuck, Hayden's mother, said of learning her son was jailed: "My first thought was, thank God. Thank God no one was hurt. And he's in a safe place." Instead, he was "forgotten" and left to die.

Elisa Serna's mother, Paloma, said after the $15 million settlement: "The dollar amount doesn't matter. These things do not change the fact that Elisa is never coming back." She has since founded a nonprofit, Saving Lives in Custody, to advocate for reforms.

Brandon Yates's father, Dan, said: "They failed to protect our son, like so many others whose deaths were preventable. The San Diego County jail system doesn't seem to value human life."

A System Designed to Avoid Accountability?

The structure of California's jail system may itself prevent meaningful accountability. Locally elected sheriffs manage jails and report to county boards of supervisors that set their budgets. State oversight is limited, and the Board of State and Community Corrections has minimal enforcement power.

The state auditor's report concluded that "the Legislature must take action" because "the high rate of deaths in San Diego County's jails compared to other counties raises concerns about underlying systemic issues with the Sheriff's Department's policies and practices."

Senator Atkins's 2023 bill to create a statewide "detention monitor" to serve as an inspector general drew fire from law enforcement groups. Sheriffs argued the system was already "sufficiently policed" and the bill would create "redundant layers of oversight."

The Path Forward

The Schuck settlement includes provisions for changes to training programs for detention and correctional officers, though many details were still being finalized. Similar training reforms were included in the Serna settlement. Whether these represent genuine reform or merely legal formalities remains to be seen.

One year after the Serna settlement, Paloma Serna described the reforms as "a step in the right direction but long overdue," while questioning whether they will lead to lasting change. "The gap between policy and practice is where we lose our loved ones," said Yusef Miller of Saving Lives in Custody. "We're living in that gap."

The fundamental question remains: In a system where more than 250 people have died in county jails since 2006, where tens of millions in taxpayer dollars have been paid out, and where judges have found "shocking negligence" and "systemic deficiencies"—who is responsible?

The answer appears to be: everyone and no one. Deputies failed to follow policies that commanders failed to enforce, under leadership that failed to reform, with oversight that failed to compel change, accountable to voters who often lack critical information.

Until that changes—until someone, somewhere in this chain of diffuse responsibility can be held individually accountable—families like the Schucks, Sernas, Rupards, Bachs, and Yates will continue to lose loved ones to what judges and auditors have called preventable deaths.

"This systemic lack of reflection after the death of a detainee is alarming," Judge Sabraw wrote. More alarming still: the system appears designed to ensure that no individual ever faces consequences for that failure to reflect, learn, or change.

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Sources and Formal Citations

Primary News Sources

1. Times of San Diego. "County burden on in-custody deaths rises sharply after record settlement." October 29, 2025. https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2025/10/29/county-in-custody-deaths-rises-record-settlement/

2. Kelly Davis. "Federal judge declines to dismiss latest jail-death case against San Diego County." The San Diego Union-Tribune, September 15, 2025. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/09/15/federal-judge-declines-to-dismiss-latest-jail-death-case-against-san-diego-county/

3. CBS 8 San Diego. "San Diego County pays $16 million to family of man who died in jail custody." October 29, 2025. https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/san-diego-county-pays-16-million-to-family-of-man-who-died-in-jail-custody

4. KPBS. "Family of man who died in San Diego jail reaches $16M settlement with county." October 29, 2025. https://www.kpbs.org/news/quality-of-life/2025/10/29/family-of-man-who-died-in-san-diego-jail-reaches-16m-settlement-with-county

5. Kelly Davis. "San Diego County settles Hayden Schuck jail death lawsuit for $16M." The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 29, 2025. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/10/29/county-will-pay-16m-over-22-year-olds-death-in-san-diego-jail-its-biggest-such-settlement-ever/

6. NBC 7 San Diego. "Family of man who died in jail reaches settlement with county." October 29, 2025. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-county-wrongful-death-settlement/3923459/

Court Rulings and Legal Documents

7. Kelly Davis. "Federal judge sanctions San Diego County for erasing 'critically important' video in 22-year-old's jail death." The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 10, 2025. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/10/10/federal-judge-sanctions-san-diego-county-for-erasing-critically-important-video-in-22-year-olds-jail-death/

8. Kelly Davis. "'Shocking in the height of negligence': Judge blasts San Diego County for deleting video footage from 2022 jail death." The San Diego Union-Tribune, July 30, 2025. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/07/30/shocking-in-the-height-of-negligence-judge-blasts-san-diego-county-for-deleting-video-footage-from-2022-jail-death/

California State Audit

9. CBS 8 San Diego. "State auditor issues scathing report on San Diego County jail deaths." February 3, 2022. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/state-auditor-issues-scathing-report-san-diego-county-jail-deaths/509-d8ae2645-537b-4417-8238-d90880340998

10. KPBS. "State audit: San Diego County fails to curb inmate deaths." February 4, 2022. https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2022/02/03/state-audit-san-diego-county-fails-curb-inmate-deaths

11. Times of San Diego. "Lawmakers Call State Audit on SD Jail Deaths 'Deeply Disturbing,' Back Fixes." February 4, 2022. https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2022/02/03/lawmakers-call-state-audit-on-sd-jail-deaths-deeply-disturbing-back-fixes/

12. Lauryn Schroeder. "Families of deceased inmates demand action following state audit." The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 5, 2022. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2022-02-04/families-of-deceased-inmates-demand-action-following-state-audit

Elisa Serna Case

13. Kelly Davis. "San Diego County settles Elisa Serna jail death lawsuit for $15 million, and limited federal oversight." The San Diego Union-Tribune, July 3, 2024. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/07/01/san-diego-county-settles-elisa-serna-jail-death-lawsuit-for-15-million-and-limited-federal-oversight/

14. CBS 8 San Diego. "Family of woman who died in custody reaches historic $15 million settlement with County of San Diego." July 2, 2024. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/elise-serna-family-settles-with-county-of-san-diego/509-cba83722-5b9b-4a6a-914a-4a537685200f

15. KPBS. "San Diego County to pay nearly $15M to Elisa Serna's family." August 2, 2024. https://www.kpbs.org/news/public-safety/2024/07/02/san-diego-county-to-pay-nearly-15m-to-elisa-sernas-family

16. Kelly Davis. "'Elisa's story is forcing change': In year since $15M jail death settlement, sheriff reforms training, medical care." The San Diego Union-Tribune, July 13, 2025. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/07/13/elisas-story-is-forcing-change-in-year-since-15m-jail-death-settlement-sheriff-reforms-training-medical-care/

17. Times of San Diego. "County Agrees to $15 Million Settlement in Las Colinas Death of Elisa Serna in 2019." July 2, 2024. https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2024/07/02/county-agrees-to-15-million-settlement-in-las-colinas-death-of-elisa-serna-in-2019/

18. Kelly Davis. "'We will be watching': After historic settlement, Elisa Serna's parents look to reform deadly jails." The San Diego Union-Tribune, July 3, 2024. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/07/02/we-will-be-watching-after-historic-settlement-elisa-sernas-parents-look-to-reform-deadly-jails/

Sheriff Kelly Martinez and Oversight

19. East County Magazine. "Sheriff Kelly Martinez." Multiple articles. https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/sheriff-kelly-martinez

20. CBS 8 San Diego. "San Diego Sheriff Kelly Martinez talks with CBS 8 about jail deaths and transparency." 2022. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/san-diego-sheriff-kelly-martinez-talks-jail-deaths-and-transparency/509-23f7a05d-0dd6-4c99-8209-b4674ef527d4

21. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board. "Record San Diego County jail deaths are now Sheriff Kelly Martinez's problem to solve." January 7, 2023. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/editorials/story/2023-01-07/san-diego-sheriff-kelly-martinez-jail-deaths-bill-gore

22. The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board. "Opinion: San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez's push to hide misconduct is a profound mistake." July 14, 2023. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/editorials/story/2023-07-14/opinion-san-diego-county-sheriff-kelly-martinezs-push-to-hide-misconduct-is-a-profound-mistake

23. Kelly Davis. "Sheriff introduces new jail safety efforts, and faces critics, in first oversight-board appearance and in-depth interview." The San Diego Union-Tribune, October 6, 2024. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/10/06/sheriff-introduces-new-jail-safety-efforts-and-faces-critics-in-first-oversight-board-appearance-and-in-depth-interview/

24. The San Diego Union-Tribune. "Supervisors move forward with plan for new oversight of sheriff." October 21, 2025. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/10/21/supervisors-move-forward-with-plan-for-new-oversight-of-sheriff/

25. Jeanie Ward. "San Diego jail investigator resigns as inmate deaths continue." CalMatters, May 14, 2024. https://calmatters.org/justice/2024/04/san-diego-jail/

Other Deaths and Criminal Prosecutions

26. CBS 8 San Diego. "Former San Diego sheriff's deputy charged with murder in detainee shooting pleads not guilty." July 14, 2020. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/former-san-diego-sheriffs-deputy-charged-with-murder-in-detainee-shooting-pleads-not-guilty/509-0d127b5c-edd4-4e36-b210-647e74c91fd8

27. Times of San Diego. "Ex-San Diego Deputy Sentenced for Fatally Shooting Fleeing Detainee." February 8, 2022. https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2022/02/07/ex-san-diego-deputy-sentenced-for-fatally-shooting-fleeing-detainee/

28. CBS 8 San Diego. "San Diego jail faces lawsuit after inmate murdered by cellmate." 2025. https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/family-of-murdered-inmate-sues-san-diego-county-sheriffs-office/509-6519eb39-24fb-4281-bc6f-73e43e0a7987

29. National Criminal Justice Association. "Family Sues San Diego Jail Over Brutal In-Custody Murder." February 26, 2025. https://www.ncja.org/crimeandjusticenews/family-sues-san-diego-jail-over-son-s-brutal-murder-while-in-custody

Legislative Response

30. Marisa Kendall. "San Diego jail deaths shape CA sheriff oversight bill." CalMatters, August 9, 2023. https://calmatters.org/justice/2023/08/san-diego-jail-deaths-toni-atkins/