Parents Sue LA County After Inmate With Mental Illness Dies At Twin Towers Jail

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The parents of a 19-year-old man who died at the Twin Towers jail have filed a wrongful death suit against L.A. county claiming their son, who suffered a mental illness, was beaten by deputies and then received minimal medical care thereafter.

According to a suit filed by Gabino and Maria Olivia Rosales, their son, Jorge Rosales, was brought to the jail in October 2011 and deputies were aware he had a mental illness.

Rosales fell twice within two weeks in September 2011, but received minimal medical care after the first incident and none following the second, court documents allege.

On Oct. 4, four deputies allegedly used "excessive and unreasonable force" against Rosales, even though he hadn't presented a threat, his parents say. The suit names the deputies as Leandro Chaverra, Javier Tiscareno, Franklin Novello and Mark Tadrous.

Two days later, Rosales was found unresponsive on the floor of a single-person cell in the medical ward. This occurred an hour after deputies said they saw him drinking water out of his cell's toilet, the suit says.

He was later pronounced dead at County-USC Medical Center.

An autopsy showed Rosales died of acute pancreatitis and had in his system an excessive amount of a drug used to treat psychotic medical disorders that was given to him in jail, according to the suit. His parents claim the beating he allegedly suffered at the hands of deputies may have contributed to his death.

The Rosales family is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

A sheriff's representative could not be immediately reached for comment.

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