After a death at Men's Central Jail, what families should know

If someone you love died at Men's Central Jail, we are so sorry. A Men's Central Jail death often comes with very little explanation, and families are left to piece together what happened inside one of the oldest and most crowded jails in California.

This guide focuses on that one building at 441 Bauchet Street: its death record, what county inspectors and the Attorney General have found there, the long-delayed plan to close it, and the lawsuits other families have filed. For the Los Angeles County jail system as a whole, including how other county jails compare, see our Los Angeles County jail deaths guide.

Men's Central Jail deaths: what the records show

Facility	Men's Central Jail (MCJ). Opened in 1963 and expanded in the 1970s.
Operated by	Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Health care by the county's Correctional Health Services.
Location	441 Bauchet St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Population	3,712 average daily against 3,512 rated beds, about 6% over capacity (LASD, fourth quarter 2025)
Deaths in custody	2023: 16 · 2024: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2026: 11 through Sept. 21 (LASD, place of death)
Oversight	Rosas federal use-of-force settlement; Sybil Brand Commission inspections; Office of Inspector General; Civilian Oversight Commission

According to the Sheriff's Department's 2026 death disclosures, 11 people died at Men's Central Jail between January and Sept. 21, 2026, the latest entry on the list as of Oct. 11, 2026. That is more than at any other Sheriff's facility this year, and more than in all of 2024 or 2025 at MCJ. LA Public Press found that MCJ accounted for about one in four deaths in the county jails from 2023 to 2025. The Vera Institute found that nearly one-fifth of the people who died in the first seven months of 2025 had been held at MCJ.

The real number is likely higher. The department records where a person died, not which jail they came from. When someone becomes ill at MCJ and dies at Los Angeles General Medical Center, the death is listed under the hospital. In 2025, 21 jail deaths were listed at that hospital.

For the 2026 deaths recorded at MCJ (list checked Oct. 11, 2026), the department gave these causes:

• One bacterial pneumonia (January)
• One acute fentanyl toxicity (April)
• One coronary artery disease (April)
• One suicide (May)
• One homicide (July)
• Six still pending, from June through Sept. 21

The department's list does not name the people who died. If your family's loss matches one of these entries, write down its date and entry number.

What inspectors have found inside Men's Central Jail

The Sybil Brand Commission, a county body that makes unannounced jail visits, inspected MCJ on June 9, 2026. Its inspection report recorded:

• Brown water in cells, cells with no water, and broken toilets
• Rats and roaches
• A housing module left "completely unattended," with no deputies at either desk
• Medications that had not been filled
• An allegation of retaliation after a complaint about pepper spray

The facility count that day was 3,933 people. The Attorney General's 2025 lawsuit against the county alleges that some MCJ dorms held up to 87 people, against a state limit of 64. It also describes two overdose emergencies in October 2024. On Oct. 8, one man died and seven people were hospitalized. On Oct. 29, seven more people from one dorm were hospitalized. These are allegations; we found no reported resolution of the case as of October 2026. On March 3, 2026, after 10 jail deaths in the first two months of the year, the Board of Supervisors ordered drug screening for everyone entering the jails, randomized safety checks, more cameras and easier access to naloxone, with a report back in 120 days. The fentanyl and jail overdose guide explains how these deaths are investigated.

Force by deputies is another concern. MCJ is one of three downtown jails covered by the Rosas settlement, which put deputy use of force under federal monitoring in 2014. The monitoring panel counted 34 head strikes in 2024 across those jails and said impermissible head strikes are still a focus. In December 2024, Senator Alex Padilla asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a July 2022 MCJ video that appears to show deputies forcing a handcuffed man head-first into a wall. The District Attorney had declined to prosecute. Our guide to LASD deputy misconduct explains how force claims against deputies work.

The promise to close Men's Central Jail

The Board of Supervisors voted years ago to close MCJ. Sources differ on the date: Calo News places the vote in 2020, while Vera places it on June 22, 2021. A 2021 plan called for closure in 18 to 24 months, and an updated plan followed in 2024. As of mid-2026 there was still no closure date, according to Spectrum News. The county's Jail Closure Team presented new proposals on April 7, 2026.

This history can matter in a lawsuit. A claim against a county often turns on what officials knew and what they did about it. Years of public reports, inspections and votes about MCJ's conditions are part of that record.

Families who have sued over deaths at Men's Central Jail

• Mark Carrillo, 38 (2021): he died by suicide in his cell in January 2021. His widow and five children sued the county and the Sheriff in July 2021, as reported by CBS Los Angeles. We did not find a public outcome.
• Andrew Balderrama, 37 (2023): he died in May 2023, days after his cellmate attacked him. His parents and children filed a federal suit in June 2024, according to KNX News. It was pending when last reported.
• Kamren Nettles, 19 (2023): the Medical Examiner ruled his death an accidental fentanyl overdose. His family's suit alleges medical negligence and missed wellness checks, and was pending when LA Public Press reported on it.
• Jalani Lovett, 27 (2021): his mother sued in 2022 after the Medical Examiner ruled his death a heroin and fentanyl overdose, as reported by CBS Los Angeles. A federal judge ruled against her, and her appeal was denied.

The Lovett case is a hard reminder that evidence decides these cases: video, cell-check records, medical records and witnesses.

Recent settlements and verdicts

We did not find a reported settlement or verdict amount in a Men's Central Jail death case from 2023 to 2026. The table shows the MCJ result we could confirm and the closest public results from the same county jail system, where the same county departments run custody and health care. These results were obtained by other law firms, not by LaCour Trial Lawyers.

"Recommended" means the county Claims Board recommended the amount; we did not confirm the Board of Supervisors' final vote. Statewide results are collected in our California jail death settlements and verdicts table, and our guide to what a jail death lawsuit is worth explains why amounts vary so widely. Every case is different. Past results, including those listed here, do not predict the outcome of any other case.

Hurt in custody, not killed?

Men's Central Jail is also where many people are seriously hurt and survive: beaten by deputies or attacked by a cellmate, stabbed and left with poor wound care, or kept from medication they need for heart disease, seizures or mental illness. County inspectors recorded unfilled medications at MCJ in June 2026, and a man there alleged pepper-spray retaliation after he complained. An injury claim against the county has the same six-month deadline as a death claim.

See our guides to suing after a beating by deputies in jail, being denied medication in jail and medical neglect and deliberate indifference, or ask for a free, confidential review of what happened.

Your family's claim after a death at MCJ

At Men's Central Jail, both the deputies and the medical staff work for Los Angeles County. The county is therefore the main defendant. Individual deputies or clinicians can also be sued under the federal civil-rights law, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. For people held before trial, as many in the county jails are, medical-care claims arise under the Fourteenth Amendment.

The key deadlines are short:

• Six months from the death to present a written government claim to Los Angeles County for state-law claims such as wrongful death and negligence (Government Code § 911.2). The claim goes to 500 W. Temple Street, Room 383, according to the Board of Supervisors. Describe every possible failure in the claim.
• Six months from a written rejection, generally, to file suit on those claims. A late claim is possible only by application within one year and on narrow grounds.
• Two years, generally, for federal civil-rights claims, which need no government claim.

The estate can bring a survival claim for what the person suffered and lost before death; in federal civil-rights cases, federal courts in California have allowed the estate to recover for the person's own suffering in some cases. A spouse and children, and sometimes parents or other dependents, can bring a wrongful death claim. If deputies used force, body-worn camera footage of a critical incident generally must be released within 45 days.

First steps that matter at Men's Central Jail

These steps are specific to MCJ. For a fuller checklist, see what to do when a loved one dies in jail.

1. Record the details of custody. Write down your loved one's booking number, the dorm or module where he was housed, and the date of his last call or visit.
2. Get the names of cellmates and dorm mates who saw what happened. People at MCJ are often released or moved, and witnesses can be hard to find later.
3. Request the autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner Records unit, (323) 343-0695, and consider an independent autopsy early.
4. Do not sign anything from the county or the Sheriff's Department without legal advice.
5. Act well before six months. We send preservation letters for MCJ housing-unit video, body-worn camera footage, safety-check logs and headcounts, and Correctional Health Services records.

How LaCour Trial Lawyers can help

Our Pasadena headquarters handles police misconduct and wrongful death in custody cases across Los Angeles County. A partner leads every case, Spanish-speaking lawyers are available, and there is no fee unless there is a recovery. See the California jail and prison deaths hub for statewide information, or request a free, confidential review.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information about California and federal law and about public records as of its date. It is not legal advice, and reading it or contacting us does not create an attorney–client relationship. Allegations in lawsuits are claims, not findings. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney advertising.