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Go to MonroviaWeekly.com for Monrovia Specific News M O N D AY, J U LY 12 - J U LY 18, 2021
V O L U M E 25, N O. 28
Wife and children of man who died in LA’s Central Jail file wrongful death, civil rights violations federal lawsuit BY TERRY MILLER
T
he family of 38-year-old Mark Carrillo of Baldwin Park is suing Los Angeles County for wrongful death and violation of civil rights. The basis of the lawsuit is that their husband and father, who had mental health issues that they say the County of Los Angeles was well-aware of, was denied the proper care and ultimately committed suicide while in their custody. In a 33-page complaint filed for plaintiffs, the Carrillo Law Firm of South Pasadena is suing the County of Los Angeles, Sheriff Alex Villanueva, deputies and jail staff for violating Carrillo’s civil rights by failing to properly
care for Carrillo who had a history of mental illness. Attorneys Luis Carrillo and Michael Carrillo and their clients, Marlene Orozco and family, held a press conference Wednesday morning outlining the case. On or about Dec. 23, 2020, Carrillo was remanded to the custody of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and he was housed in the Men’s Central Jail. Prior to Carrillo’s Dec. 23, 2021 incarceration at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail, he had been incarcerated approximately seven times from approximately 2019-2020 and during each of those incarcerations, he was housed at the Los Angeles County Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
The complaint alleges that during Carrillo’s incarceration from Dec. 23, 2020 to Jan. 23, 2021, the authorities knew or should have known that Carrillo was experiencing delusions and paranoia and he was not taking his medication. On Jan. 23, 2021, Carrillo was found hanging from the bars of his cell door and multiple pieces of cloth and plastic were noted to be tied in various places around the bars of the cell door. According to the County of Los Angeles, Department of Coroner Investigator’s report, surveillance footage viewed by the deputies, approximately 20 minutes prior to discovery of his body, the Carrillo’s hands and fingers can be seen fidgeting through the bars, appearing consistent with him tying the ligature.
Mark Carrillo, right, with members of his family in a 2009 photo. | Photo courtesy of the Carrillo Law Firm and Family
OC District Attorney Spitzer calls for reforms of prison inmate firefighting program BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
O
range County District Attorney Todd Spitzer Thursday called
for reforms in the firefighting program for state prison inmates in response to one inmate’s joyriding spree in a Cal Fire fire truck on the Fourth of July.
Cameron Zoltan Horvath, 31, is accused of going off-roading in a stolen fire truck after leaving his assignment battling a brush fire in El
Dorado County on Sunday, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Horvath attempted to carjack another vehicle when the fire truck got stuck in a
ditch, the District Attorney’s Office reported. Horvath was doing a 10-year sentence that started in 2015 after he was convicted of carjack-
ing a woman in Orange County. He also had a prior
See OC District page 2