The family of a man who was allegedly tortured and murdered by his cellmate at San Diego Central Jail spoke out Tuesday after filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the county.
The suit also targets San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez and three deputies assigned to the jail.
The complaint, filed Monday in federal court, alleges that Brandon Yates, 24, pleaded for help for about an hour on Jan. 16, 2024, yet no deputies or jail staff responded, allowing Yates’ cellmate to attack, sexually assault and kill him without intervention.
Yates not only screamed for help, but repeatedly pushed a panic button inside the cell. Deputies either ignored the requests or muted the intercom, according to the complaint.
Yates, who suffered from mental health and substance abuse issues, was dead within a day of being arrested for sleeping in the backyard of a residence.
The lawsuit also states that Yates’ alleged killer, Alvin Ruis, was known to be violent and sheriff’s department policies dictated he should not have been housed with anyone else.
Ruis, charged with Yates’ murder, is awaiting trial.
Yates’ parents and brother spoke at a Tuesday morning news conference announcing the lawsuit. The family and their attorneys said they hope the litigation will spark a cultural shift in the county’s treatment of inmates and its enforcement of its policies.
His father, Dan Yates, said, “The San Diego County jail system doesn’t seem to value human life. The sheriff’s department is aware of the existing problems, but consistently ignores them.”
The Yates lawsuit is one of several pending civil cases involving inmates who died while in custody in San Diego County.
In Yates’ case, the complaint states he was placed in a cell with Ruis, who “suffered from a significant mental illness that manifested in violent outbursts toward inmates and deputies.” Ruis, who had recently been arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife and children, was classified as a “bypass inmate,” meaning he was not allowed to be with other detainees.
Yet he was housed with Yates and left unmonitored, and according to the complaint, believed Yates “had the devil inside of him” and told him he was going to kill him.
Ruis then choked Yates unconscious, poured liquid soap into his nose and mouth, smothered him with a blanket, stripped him naked, and abused his body, according to the complaint.
Deputies discovered the aftermath after performing their hourly check of the cell. Ruis allegedly told investigators that he “timed his torture because he knew that the deputies only did rounds once every hour at 60 minute intervals,” the lawsuit states.
Iredale said that after Yates’ death, it was determined that the panic button in his cell was operational at the time and that Ruis had pressed it himself “because he wanted to see if he could be stopped from what he was doing.”
The lawsuit alleges other inmates also pressed their panic buttons after hearing the attack, to no avail.
Dan Yates said that shortly after his son’s death, the family sat down with Martinez, who told them, “her hands were somewhat tied” because the county jails needed around $500 million in upgrades in order to expand the facilities, which would provide more capacity to keep inmates like Ruis separated from the others.
“As I’ve studied our son’s case and others, I don’t think money is the issue,” Dan Yates said on Tuesday. “I think we have a culture problem in the jail system, an indifference among certain deputy personnel and how they treat and value human life.”
Yates family said he “was a vibrant, adventurous, and deeply caring person who touched the lives of many.” Though he developed substance abuse issues at 19 and later developed symptoms of schizophrenia, “Brandon worked hard at sobriety and personal growth and never gave up hope.”
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