Amid statewide scrutiny, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is facing a civil rights lawsuit from the family of an inmate found dead in a jail cell. detention.

Richard Matus, 29, is one of 18 inmates who died in county detention centers last year, which the state’s attorney general says is the highest death toll in decades.

“My son, he was a good man. He had two kids. He loved his kids, he loved his family,” Lisa Matus said.

Her son was found dead in his cell at Cois M. Byrd Detention Center from a drug overdose in August last year. Lisa Matus said Richard Matus died on his granddaughter’s first day of school; I had to tell him the news when he got home.

At the time, according to prison records, Richard Matus was in pre-trial detention on felony charges, including theft and attempted malicious murder.

Seven inmates died in the same detention center last year. It’s unclear how they died, but Rochard Matus’ family believe some, if not all, should still be alive today.

They are filing a class action lawsuit against USCIS for the huge backlogs that exist in various applications, specifically for unlawful presence.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a civil rights investigation into the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in February. He said the investigation is focused on whether the sheriff’s department has “engaged in an unconstitutional or unlawful policing scheme or practice.”

Sheriff Chad Bianco reacted immediately, calling the investigation a frivolous political stunt and a waste of resources. “Had the Attorney General or anyone else from the DOJ (Department of Justice) raised questions or concerns, we could have provided more than enough evidence to show that these allegations were false. He couldn’t do that,” Bianco said of Bonta.

Regarding the Matus family lawsuit, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department said he would not comment on ongoing litigation.

In their lawsuit, attorneys for the Matus family allege that corrections officers fail to properly monitor inmates under the Title 15 Security and Welfare Controls Code.

Richard Matus’ mother says if the officers had found her son sooner, he might still be alive today, which is why she is taking legal action.

“He’s not going to die in vain and neither are these other people,” Lisa Matus said.

Categorized in: