$3.3 Million Verdict for Detainee’s Fatal Fentanyl Overdose in Southern California Jail
by Chuck Sharman
On September 23, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California entered final judgment that sustained a $3.3 million verdict for Jay Campos, whose son, Joshua, died of a fentanyl overdose three days after booking into the Orange County jail system.
The younger Campos was arrested and booked into the jail system on March 4, 2022, remaining under psychological observation until his transfer two days later to the Theo Lacy facility, which holds the majority of the jail complex’s male detainees. It was not his first incarceration at the jail; on at least three prior bookings, his intake mental health screening revealed that he was “suffering from schizoaffective disorders, bipolar disorder, polysubstance abuse disorder and/or dependency, as well as being actively suicidal and/or as having an extensive history of suicidal tendencies,” according to the complaint later filed on his behalf.
Before leaving the Intake & Reception Cener for Theo Lacy, at least three medical professionals separately evaluated Campos and documented his “histories of at least ten (10) prior psychiatric hospitalizations, multiple suicide attempts, and substance abuse,” the complaint added, as well as his diagnosed schizoaffective disorders and bipolar disorder. They also noted active “auditory and visual hallucinations,” along with anxiety, agitation, paranoia and disorganized thinking. Combined with his admission that “I want to kill myself,” they determined that he was a “gravely disabled adult” with “moderately severe” mental illness, likely a danger to himself or others, requiring “Acuity 3” level of supervision and treatment—“regular supervision and assistance to prevent harm.”
Yet jailers placed him in the general population of detainees, apparently crediting his verbal denial when questioned whether he had suicidal thoughts—despite the overwhelming evidence in their hands that his answer was suspect. Later that night, surveillance video revealed, Campos snorted something; 13 minutes later, his cellmate found him unresponsive and alerted guards, beginning CPR himself. When staffers finally arrived to take over, it was too late to save Campos. He was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.
With the aid of Los Angeles attorney Christian M. Contreras and Montebello attorney Humberto M. Guizar, the elder Campos filed suit in January 2023. Proceeding under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, he accused jailers of deliberate indifference to his son’s serious medical need and of failure to protect him from harm, in violation of his civil rights. The complaint also sought to extend liability to the County for failure to train the jail staff, as well as maintaining a custom or policy of deliberate indifference to jail detainees, as laid out in Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Svcs., 436 U.S. 658 (1978). Additional state-law claims were included for negligence and interfering with Campos’ civil rights as protected by California’s Bane Act.
After granting Defendant’s motion to dismiss in March 2023, the district court accepted Plaintiff’s amended complaint, which Defendants again moved to dismiss. But on February 27, 2024, that motion was largely denied, and Plaintiff was granted leave to amend or refile those claims that were dismissed. See: Campos v. Cty. of Orange, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 209929 (C.D. Cal.).
That sent the case to trial on March 10, 2025. When it concluded five days later, jurors refused to find any of the jailers guilty of the civil rights violations. Yet they sustained the Monell claims against the County, awarding Plaintiff $1.2 million for loss of Campos’ life and $2.1 million for his wrongful death.
Defendants moved for a directed verdict, and Judge Wesley L. Hsu decided that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the jury’s verdict on the Monell claim for unconstitutional custom or practice. However, he agreed that there was evidence to support the companion Monell verdict for failure to train the jail staff, which was also deemed sufficient to support the damages award.
Plaintiff has filed a motion for nearly a half-million dollars in attorneys fees, while Defendants have appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Should the former be granted and the latter effort fail, the resulting payout will total nearly $3.8 million, among the largest ever in a civil rights case from the County jails. PLN will update developments as they unfold. See: Campos v. Cty. of Orange, USDC (C.D. Cal.), Case No. 8:23-cv-00072; and USCA (9th Cir.), Case No. 25-06795.
Contreras said that jurors agreed with his theory of the case: that jail staffers “aren’t adequately trained to deal with these types of individuals.” Instead, he told KTLA in Los Angeles, those working in the jail must be “adequately trained to deal with people like [Campos], so that this doesn’t happen again.”
Additional source: KTLA
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
Related legal cases
Campos v. Cty. of Orange
| Year | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC (C.D. Cal.), Case No. 8:23-cv-00072 |
| Level | District Court |
Campos v. Cty. of Orange,
| Year | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USCA (9th Cir.), Case No. 25-06795 |
| Level | Court of Appeals |