The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $5.9 million payment Tuesday to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who alleged that county jail guards and medical staffers failed to properly monitor and treat him, leading to brain damage that left him permanently disabled.
Juan Isaac Garza was in custody at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in May 2012 when he tried to kill himself, according to a summary provided to the board.
"An inmate in the day room told deputies that inmate Garza was standing on his desk in his cell, falling backwards and hitting his head," an action he repeated four to six times, the summary stated.
Garza, then 22, was then moved into a single-man cell in an effort to keep him safe. He was handcuffed and walked into the cell on his own and a mental health social worker called to evaluate him said she didn't see any signs of a medical emergency, the Los Angeles Times reports.
"Within two hours, inmate Garza was found 'man down' in his cell from self-inflicted injuries, and unresponsive," according to the summary.
Garza had been charged with attempted murder after allegedly attacking an apparent stranger -- a 54-year-old Eagle Rock woman -- with a crowbar. A database maintained by the Department of Mental Health showed a 2009 diagnosis of schizophrenia, "but with no follow-up or medications," according to the board summary.
