SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) — Staff at a San Diego jail ignored an inmate's pleas for help, resulting in his death, a new lawsuit says.
The Estate of Aaron Daniel Bonin, by and through his successor in interest Barbara Brisson, filed a complaint Nov. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against County of San Diego and others, alleging wrongful death, negligence and other claims.
The plaintiff alleges in her complaint that her son's death while in custody at the San Diego County jail on Nov. 1, 2022, was preventable. According to the plaintiff's complaint, Bonin was transferred to the San Diego Central Jail on Sept. 1, 2022, from the state's psychiatric facility and suffered from chronic medical conditions and severe mental health issues and required a special "renal diet."
The plaintiff alleges that despite her son's history of high blood potassium, he was given a normal diet and that the jail staff failed to re-test his dangerously high blood potassium level. She claims that on Oct. 26, 2022, he fell ill and his pleas for medical help were ignored and that he suffered cardiac arrest and hypoxic ischemic injury due to a high blood potassium level.
Bonin, according to the plaintiff's complaint, died on Nov. 1, 2022.
The plaintiff seeks monetary relief, interest and all other just relief. She is represented by Timothy Scott, Lauren Williams and Michelle Angeles of McKenzie Scott PC in San Diego.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California case number 3:23-CV-02158-BEN-MSB