The parents of an Air Force veteran who committed suicide to end his life while locked up in jail have filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.
The recent filing claims that the deceased's family obtained documents and video recordings that showed deputies failing to check on their son. The footage also allegedly showed that the officials were simply watching internet videos and eating while on duty.
Air Force Veteran's Suicide Death
The video recordings had timestamps for Sept. 22, 2023, and were produced by the LA County Sheriff's Department in response to the family's legal demands in federal court. They show the deputies watching videos and eating food at around the time when the deceased, 22-year-old Maxwell Aguirre, tried to hang himself in his cell.
The family's attorney, Denisse Gastelum, said that the deputies at the time were watching YouTube and eating Chick-fil-A when they were supposed to be monitoring the Air Force veteran's cell, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Aguirre was a U.S. Air Force veteran who was locked up in jail while waiting for trial on a murder charge. One of the video recordings showed him covering the windows of his cell inside the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, shortly before Gastelum said his feet could be seen thrashing before becoming still.
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The attorney noted that the public should not tolerate government officials if they fail to fulfill their roles. The veteran was said to have still been alive when deputies were alerted to his hanging. He was quickly transported to a hospital, where he remained on life support for a week before being pronounced dead.
The deceased's family and their attorneys said in a press conference that the deputies who failed to monitor Aguirre should be brought up on criminal charges. The veteran's father, Omar Aguirre, said that the officials took an oath to serve the public but simply violated it, Yahoo News reported.
Lawsuit Against the LASD
On the other hand, the LASD detailed that almost half of the people in Los Angeles County Jails suffer from at least one mental illness. Additionally, officials detailed their regulations regarding the individuals who could be a danger to themselves.
Gastelum added that deputies who should have been monitoring Aguirre "effectively falsified a government record saying that they're going to do a mandated duty that's required in the state of California, and then they don't do it."
The family of Aguirre is calling for the state to revoke the deputies' peace officer certifications. The attorneys said that despite the Air Force veteran facing manslaughter charges, what happened to him was not justified, as per ABC7.
