A federal jury this week awarded $13.5 million to the family of a man who died while in pre-trial custody at the Cois M. Byrd detention center in Murrieta, though the family will only receive a fraction of that amount.
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“The jury determined that the county was 40% at fault,” Brooke Federico, Riverside County director of communications, said in an email to The Riverside Record. “As a result, the county is responsible for $5.4 million of the total amount.”
The jury found Richard Matus Jr., who died of a fentanyl overdose after drinking a homemade prison alcohol called Pruno, was 60% responsible. He was one of 19 people who died in Riverside County jails in 2022.
According to Christian Contreras, attorney for the Matus family, Matus began experiencing respiratory depression after consuming the fentanyl-laced beverage. At that point, Contreras said Matus’ cellmate noticed something was wrong and started asking other inmates what he should do.
“All of them were saying, ‘Press the intercom, press intercom,’” Contreras said in an interview with The Riverside Record. “He tried to press the intercom within his cell to communicate what’s called a man down, and a deputy within the control booth said ‘Stop bugging,’ preventing emergency care to Mr. Matus.”
By the time deputies arrived to provide medical treatment, including the use of Narcan, Contreras said it was too late and Matus died as a result.
According to the verdict form, the jury found that while the deputy, Angel Rojas, did not deliberately ignore intercom calls about Matus, he did unreasonably ignore them, and his conduct was a “substantial factor” in causing Matus’ death.
“The jury found that they were negligent in their response to these calls, knowing that if they don’t respond, they’re not responding to an emergency such that it could cause someone’s death,” Contreras said. “And that’s exactly what happened in this case.”
The jury also found that Matus was negligent and that his own conduct was also a “substantial factor” in causing his death.
In a statement to The Record, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSO) said it was disappointed with the jury’s findings and the allocation of responsibility.
“It is also incumbent on the individuals themselves to understand the dangers of drugs, especially fentanyl, a poison killing far too many people, often without warning,” the statement said. “RSO personnel, as well as [Riverside University Health System] personnel, do a commendable job caring for our inmates, educating them and providing them with literature regarding the dangers of fentanyl, hoping it will deter them from drug use in and out of custody.”
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