Inmate's Family Sues LASD After Mental Health Drug Overdose Death

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- The father of an inmate who died after a drug overdose in 2018 is suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for negligence.

25-year-old Lewis Nyarecha, who was arrested for suspicion of trespassing, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Twin Towers jail in downtown L.A. on June 6, 2018 by a fellow inmate after missing dinner the night before and breakfast that day, the suit said.

Nyarecha's father Peter Woods said that two sheriff's dropped his son while trying to remove him from the bunk bed in the cell, which caused his head to slam on the back of a metal desk.

The inmate received CPR but was later declared dead due to quetiapine toxicity, according to the plaintiff.

Woods filed the civil rights action against the LASD and dozens of its employees for alleged negligence and failure to properly screen and train deputies.

LASD said it would not comment on the lawsuit, citing pending litigation.

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