A jury awarded $3.3 million to the family of a man who overdosed on fentanyl in an Orange County jail in 2022 on Tuesday.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department stated that Joshua James Campos was found unresponsive in his cell at the Theo Lacy Facility in the city of Orange on Mar. 7, 2022.
He had been booked into the jail three days prior on a solicitation charge, OCSD said. The Orange County District Attorney’s office noted that Campos had been arrested multiple times before over the years for various different charges.
A death report issued by the OCDA in November 2023 states that during his receiving screening at the jail on Mar. 4, Campos reported being prescribed several different medications – including Albuterol, Depakote, Haldol, Visteril and Zyprexa – and that he also had asthma. He denied the use of alcohol or illegal street drugs like heroin or opiates.
“Campos also reported that he was diagnosed with ‘schizo’ and admitted hearing voices or seeing things others do not hear or see,” the death report reads. “He also reported having past suicidal ideations and suicide attempts but denied having suicidal ideations [at the time].”
On the evening he was booked, Campos was prescribed 30 mg of Zyprexa by an Orange County Health Care Agency physician that was to be taken daily. The physician also recommended daily observation of Campos and follow-up should continue.
“The doctor documented that Campos had reported approximately ten psychiatric hospitalizations and diagnosed him with schizoaffective disorder, unspecified and stimulant dependence,” the death report continued. “Campos was placed in the male triage loop for observation.”
The following day, however, Campos was listed as “cleared” on an OCSD Inmate Health and Mobility Notification Form, and after showing compliance with medications, orientation to place and time and appropriate speech, observation was discontinued, and he was placed in regular housing.
“He denied having any suicidal thoughts or ideations, or hallucinations,” OCDA said. “OCHCA recommended that observation be discontinued and cleared Campos for regular housing.”
On the morning of Mar. 6, Campos refused to take his prescribed medication, stating “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” while also refusing to sign a release of liability for refusing treatment against medical advice.
However, Campos was said to have taken his prescribed Zyprexa the following evening, Mar. 7, which is the night he died.
“At approximately 9:15 p.m., Campos and John Doe 1 [his cellmate] could be seen together in their cell on jail surveillance,” officials said. “John Doe 1 appeared to manipulate an unknown object or substance on top of one of the two metal stools attached to a table in the cell. At that time, Campos was standing and moving around the cell.”
Two minutes later, Campos “bent forward at the waist, lowered his head toward the metal stool and appeared to snort something” before abruptly standing upright.
Just under an hour later, at 10:03 p.m., a deputy performing a safety check noted nothing unusual in the cell and recalled seeing Campos lying on his bunk and appeared to be breathing.
Jail surveillance footage captured the two cellmates rising from their bunks and moving towards the cell’s metal table just one minute later. Campos was observed sitting at the table while John Doe 1 sat on the floor, according to the DA’s office.
“At approximately 10:07:29 p.m., Campos rose from his seat and moved to the east stool, where John Doe 1 had just snorted what he subsequently told OCDA investigators was Subutex,” officials said.
Subutex is used to treat addiction to narcotic pain relievers.
“At approximately 10:07:38 p.m., Campos bent forward at the waist, lowered his head toward the east stool and appeared to snort something again,” officials continued. “He then abruptly stood upright, turned toward John Doe 1 – who was still seated on the floor – and handed him something. John Doe 1 then scooted back toward the stool and duplicated the motions consistent with snorting something.”
After this, Campos was said to have put his shirt back on and laid down on his top bunk; his cellmate was observed appearing to check on him around 10:20 p.m. and appeared to shake him without any response for several minutes. The cellmate then attempted chest compressions, and once that failed, he pushed the in-cell emergency button to alert deputies that he needed assistance around 10:31 p.m.
Multiple deputies rushed to the cell and carried Campos out so they could have more room to provide medical aid. Campos was given multiple doses of Narcan while deputies performed chest compressions.
Paramedics were requested at 10:32 p.m., and they arrived four minutes later; according to the OCDA, there was an elevator outage that caused a delay in their arrival. More life-saving measures were performed, including the use of an automated external defibrillator, but Campos’ condition remained unchanged.
He was transported to UCI Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 11:09 p.m.
An autopsy was conducted on Mar. 18 that revealed no major issues on Campos’ body other than minor injuries consistent with someone scratching themselves. He was found to have several natural diseases and pre-existing conditions, but his official cause of death was listed as acute fentanyl intoxication, and the manner of death was ruled accidental.
The Orange County DA’s office concluded their death report with the finding that there was “no evidence to support a finding that any OCSD personnel or any individual under the supervision of OCSD failed to perform a legal duty causing the death of Campos.”
Campos’ family and attorney, however, believes that he should have never been put in the general population at the jail due to his mental health history and what staff already knew about him from previous run-ins with the law.
“Somebody says [Joshua was] gravely ill, suicidal and hearing things, and then two days later, they reevaluate him and say he’s fine?” Jay Campos, Joshua’s father, said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Mental illness doesn’t work like that… [Putting him] in the general population was the big mistake that led to my son’s death.”
The family’s attorney, Christian Contreras, said that the jury’s verdict indicates deputies are ill-equipped to handle situations like Joshua’s.
“The jury has spoken, and they said these folks aren’t adequately trained to deal with these types of individuals, and I agree,” he said. “We should equip law enforcement, jail staff and medical professionals in the jails to ensure they are adequately trained to deal with people like Joshua, so that this doesn’t happen again.”
Orange County officials declined to comment on the incident.
