You cant republish our material wholesale, or automatically; you need to select stories to be republished individually. The family created pendants to hold Erkins ashes. He moved to Southern California to start over but failed to give his probation officer advance notice. Protest in front of the jail.. Thank you for your interest in republishing this story. Investigators with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office say they found Matthew Gonzales' body hanging in his cell. document.getElementById('cloak5aba5b4c3f45a5c70aa7fe29b2b82d1d').innerHTML = ''; Thirteen other people were beaten and hospitalized for multiple days. In 2015, the sheriffs office agreed to a second consent decree in another class-action lawsuit over jail conditions. Only one Fresno County inmate killed another in the seven years before realignment. Call or e-mail the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. EOW: February 11, 2023. While the victim was unloading groceries, Erkins took her purse from her shopping cart, the arrest report said. In January 2018, Lorenzo Herrera, 19, Ernest Brock, 20, and Andre Erkins, 30, were booked into the Fresno County Jail. Magsig and the other Board members are public servants without a conscience. But facing severe budget shortfalls, Mims laid off several dozen correctional officers. This article was produced in partnership with The Sacramento Bee, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. This application may no longer respond until reloaded. His parents had encouraged him to barter for books and newspapers anything he could to preoccupy himself until his trial on burglary and assault charges. n Climate Whiplash Is in Californias Future, Farmworkers in Tulare United to Confront Unfair Eviction. Caleb Lawrence McGillvary (born September 3, 1988), also referred to as Kai, is a Canadian man who first became known from the internet viral video "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker", which featured him recounting a crime he witnessed while hitchhiking.McGillvary subsequently received national attention in the press. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last month. In a 48-hour stretch during January 2018, three men were booked into the Fresno County Jail. Pale. 3333 E. American Ave, Suite GFresno, CA 93725Office: 559-600-3400Fax: 559-455-4605This email address is being protected from spambots. She closed several floors of the jail because she didnt have enough officers to watch inmates. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; Crews helping residents stranded by snow in Mariposa County, Home catches fire in snow-covered neighborhood in North Fork, New shopping center unveiled in Northeast Fresno. Were You Affected by the Massive Wildfire in Northern New Mexico? Specter, with the Prison Law Office, said a sheriffs absence sends a clear message. I dont want to feel like youre afraid for me. Talk to Us. Thirteen other people were beaten and hospitalized. The officer put Erkins in the police car and told Meza to say goodbye. However, the state data shows Fresno County recorded far more inmate deaths, and particularly violent deaths, than some larger California jails. Our Location: 1221 Fulton Street, 6th Floor. MEDIA CONTACT:: Dan Stormer, Esq. During the drive toward downtown Fresno, they wondered if their son would be released. He told me there was a guy in there and he was crazy and he needed his psych medicine, Rankin recalled. Throughout 2017, the sheriffs office hired 40 new officers but lost 39. Four correctional officers are expected to maintain order among some 200 inmates on the floor. Unfortunately those reasons are not always attributed to the rise and fall of the crime rate. Fresno County SO said his co-worker's gun accidentally fired and shot him in the chest. Lawyers representing Fresno County inmates sued the sheriffs office in February 1993, alleging cruel and unusual jail conditions that violated the U.S. Constitutions Eighth Amendment. Fentanyl overdoses are contributing to the rapid rise in overdose deaths in Fresno County in recent years. The real estate market crash and recession dried up jail funding as tax revenues shriveled. The Fresno County Sheriffs Office does not segregate people awaiting trial from convicted inmates serving a jail sentence. Herrera was booked into Fresno Countys jail in January 2018 on burglary and assault charges after he and two other young men allegedly smashed into a home southeast of Fresno and then evaded law enforcement. Erkins stayed home with the kids when Meza worked. Any website our stories appear on must include a prominent and effective way to contact you. Yes, he had a gang history, an officer wrote on his intake form. Note:A court day consists of the hours of 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, not including court holidays. Mims does not attend these meetings and sends her jail administrators instead. The sheriff is legally allowed to overcrowd the jail, but only to a point. They bundled the first reforms in 2011 into Assembly Bill 109, referred to as realignment. My son wasnt no gang member, Carlos Herrera said in an interview. Davis, CA 95617 This site has been designed to be a resource for the public, providing up-to-date information and news, as well as background and historical information about the office. Some are serving yearslong sentences and others recently arrived and are awaiting their day in court. The purpose of the newspaper is to help build a progressive movement for social and economic justice. You may also request a copy by sending your request in the mail to the: Fresno County Sheriff-Coroners Office at 3333 E. American Avenue, Ste. Anyone interested in interning at the Courthouse or volunteering to monitor cases should contact the Vanguard at info(at)davisvanguard(dot)org - please email info(at)davisvanguard(dot)org if you find inaccuracies in this report. by Jason Pohl, The Sacramento Bee, and Ryan Gabrielson, ProPublica. Asked if its the sheriffs job to prevent inmate deaths and jail violence, Doyle responded, Of course.. There were more meth deaths than suicides or homicides; more . Details emerged only in a trickle of court documents and sporadic interviews. The Sheriff's Office reserves the right to remove comments containing false information, profanity, sexual content or other material deemed to be inappropriate. You may use the telephone to search for and register to receive notification about the custody status of an offender -- each state/county has their own toll-free VINE phone number. Don Spector, director of the Prison Law Office, said sheriffs have been very indifferent to jail conditions. He said that there has been a complete lack of action.. They are funding and presiding over an institution of death and torture. Erkins knew he was in trouble, but his relationship with longtime friend Natalie Meza was going well. Deijon Erkins called Meza, and she scolded him for interrupting her at the McDonalds where she worked. No other jail in California has seen a sharper increase in inmate deaths than the Fresno County Jail, whose three buildings house more than 3,000 inmates, mostly in the concrete cube known as the Main Jail in downtown Fresno. Get our investigations delivered to your inbox with the Big Story newsletter. Total Line of Duty Deaths: 1,741. At least 18 correctional officers and staff from across the complex flooded into the pod. Eleven inmates died in 2018 from untreated drug and alcohol withdrawal, suicide, medical negligence and murder. One was beaten into a coma. Inmates are dying in markedly higher numbers. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. If youre republishing online, you must link to the URL of this story on propublica.org, include all of the links from our story, including our newsletter sign up language and link, and use our. state prosecutions that end in convictions still wind up with little jail or prison time for the defendant. - (626) 585-9600 - dstormer@hadsellstormer.com ADVOCATES SUE FRESNO COUNTY FOR DEATH OF 29-YEAR-OLD EPILEPTIC MAN CAUSED BY DEPRIVATION OF MEDICAL CARE He was pronounced dead at 8:37 p.m. Erkins died a natural death caused by atherosclerotic heart disease, ruled the county coroner, who is part of the Fresno County Sheriffs Office. Officers are sometimes slower to conduct rounds, to notice inmates who are gravely sick, to watch fights develop in a gang pod or to isolate psychotic inmates. It requires Sheriff Mims to hire additional correctional officers, protect and provide services to inmates, ease overcrowding and provide adequate healthcare. In May 2011, California lost its decadeslong legal fight on prison overcrowding. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; Experts say apathy among the officials in charge has created a crisis. One indication of how much they care is whether they show up, he said. You cant use our work to populate a website designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements. prcs warrant - post release community supervision violation warrant (ab109) r20900027-1. Thats when California officials approved realignment, sending people convicted of felonies that are nonviolent, nonsexual and nonserious to serve prison sentences in county jails rather than state prisons. The agreement requires the sheriff to hire 127 additional correctional officers to protect and provide services to inmates. For more information about canonical metadata, You cant edit our material, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. But Herrera, 19, said he did not expect problems with others inside the gang pod hed soon call home. Fresno, CA. It is the mission of the Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner's Office to provide excellence in public service through our uncompromising belief in dignity in . You are are free to republish it so long as you do the following: Copy and paste the following into your page to republish: Sign up for the Overcorrection newsletter, the state was ordered in 2011 by the U.S. Supreme Court, California lost its decadeslong legal fight, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion. 5620, Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 4:00 . 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Detectives were awaiting results from a DNA test of some evidence from the scene, according to a recent court filing. Board Chair Nathan Magsig cut me off after my allotted three minutes. How do I get information about someone who was arrested? Three people who walked into the overcrowded Fresno County Jail and left on gurneys, dead or barely alive. Click the image above or visit this link to download the app for your Android or iOS device. The increase in violence and death in Fresno started soon after the state was ordered in 2011 by the U.S. Supreme Court to reduce its prison population. Being a peace officer, Mims said, you know, you want to keep people locked up.. About a month after that visit, on March 24, 2018, a correctional officer doing cell checks found Herrera dead on a cell bunk bed. The records dont detail whether Pacheco was the victims cellmate or what the motive was. Susan Russo, who was convicted of arranging the 1994 murder of her husband, has died at 67. More than a year ago, state Sen. Sydney Kamlager, D-Los Angeles, requested the audit and included Fresno County in her request because of a surge in jail deaths in the years since the 2011 . If you are an attorney or party in a case not publicly available for viewing, you will have to come down to the courthouse to view the case. In the reform era, jail sentences extended for years, meaning that sheriffs must provide long-term care for county jail inmates who previously would have gone to prisons. Detention Programs and Services are outcome-driven and designed to produce individuals whom, upon returning to the community are safe, self-sufficient, healthy, out-of-trouble, at home, in school or at work. Theyre not supposed to enter another persons cell, but officers do not keep tabs on whos coming and going. He promoted to Correctional Officer IV in August 2012. Additionally, the bureau is committed to the inmate's character development. The men and women of the Fresno County Sheriffs Office are dedicated to providing the finest quality law enforcement and correctional services. In 1993, county officials packed 20 people into a cell intended for 12, with inmates sprawled on mattresses between and beneath bunk beds. PA - Feb 18, 2023. The gang members expand their influence in the jail while serving longer sentences, the maximum-security inmates pose a greater threat, those with serious mental illness and those with chronic medical conditions suffer in a place built to temporarily seal them away. Michael Karibian July 14, 1947 - February 13, 2023 Fresno, California - Local photographer Mike Karibian died in Fresno on Monday, February 13, 2023 surrounded by family. He was sent to the infirmary and told staff he vomited seven times. Meza said she sobbed in the bathroom stall. Feb. 4, 2023 5 AM PT. In 2019, McGillvary was convicted of first-degree murder in New Jersey. View all arrests reported by Fresno County Sheriff Local Crime News provides daily updates of arrests in all cities in California. One officer described it as the honor system. Cameras record common areas and can see who enters and exits specific cells, which are not video monitored. Reports have a $84.55 fee, payable in advance by cashiers check or money order. Appearances for Superior Court are set by the Superior Court and scheduled for the next available court date. It was an urgent matter, the ruling states, because if the defendants mental disorder is not treated with antipsychotic medications, it is probable that serious harm to the physical or mental health of the patient will result., He was still awaiting transfer a month later, when Brock was placed in his cell. Talk to Us. For more information on modified visitation procedures, Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR) Policy, Orange Cove Shooting Hospitalizes Young Woman, Red Cross Opens Emergency Shelter for Residents Of Dunlap, Miramonte & Squaw Valley, Detectives Arrest Del Rey Elementary Employee for Child Sex Abuse, Program Allows Female Inmates to Learn Valuable Sewing Skills, Public Access to Road Closure and Detour Map, Winter Storm Map Allows Citizens to Monitor Risk Zones, Public Civil Unit Window Moves Out of FSO Downtown Headquarters, Sheriff's Office Cracking Down on Illegal Trash Dumping, Fresno County Jail Gets New Phone Service for Inmates. Live Scan fingerprint services are located inside the Fresno County Main Jail lobby located at 1225 M Street in downtown Fresno. For News Releases prior to 2017 contact Public Health Communication at PublicHealthMedia@fresnocountyca.gov . Prosecutors dropped the charges against Brock, and Rankin has filed a wrongful injury lawsuit against the sheriffs office, now scheduled to go to trial next year. Purses, backpacks briefcases, cell phones and other personal effects will not be allowed into the secured areas of the facility. The jail staff failed to notice his worsening health until it was too late. He still lives with his grandmother, and his family tries to safeguard him. If there is . Investigators said that during his booking, he reported having high blood pressure but wasnt taking medication. We believe that each person we serve has a basic right to quality in their death. While decreasing the overload in state prisons, the results in many county jails have been deadly. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; Yes -- MyCarePack.com gives you the opportunity to show friends and loved ones you're thinking of them while they're incarcerated. He was pronounced dead about 25 minutes later. At booking, Herrera was assigned a cell in a Norteos gang pod. Its okay to put our stories on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories. Meanwhile, the county jail is grappling again with setbacks. Demand public hearings, a comprehensive assessment, increased funding and more early release of nonviolent alleged offenders. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; The legislation rerouted people convicted of nonviolent, nonsexual and nonserious crimes to serve sentences in county jails. They had their first child, Joseph, in 2014, and Christiana was born in spring 2016. He was comatose, but two officers stood guard to ensure he didnt escape. Three bookings within 48 hours, three people who went into the overcrowded jail and left dead or in a coma. The sheriffs have been very indifferent to jail conditions, Specter said. Were never going to be always 100% compliant, she said. Eleven inmates died in 2018 from untreated drug and alcohol withdrawal, suicide, medical negligence and murder. No other jail in California has seen a sharper increase in inmate deaths than the Fresno County Jail, whose three buildings house more than 3,000 inmates. She won the top job four years earlier, advocating tough-on-crime policies and denouncing early inmate releases. But on Feb. 17, Erkins complained of not feeling well, according to his autopsy report. FRESNO, Calif. - Two unarmed sheriff's office correctional officers were shot in the lobby of a central California county jail Saturday, CBS Fresno affiliate KGPE-TV reports . This includes publishing or syndicating our work on platforms or apps such as Apple News, Google News, etc. It is up to us to stop stigmatizing and shunning jail inmates. Rankin was unaware of the struggle to save her son. The Fresno County Sheriffs Office is responsible for the operation of three jails within the county. 2 ex-deputies acquitted of manslaughter in stun gun death. The Superior Court of California, County of Fresno, will serve the community and enhance public trust and confidence in the administration of . Please send any comments or questions regarding the Policy and Procedures to CCEMSA. Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said that the county jails hold many dangerous people, and that awful events, including deaths, are almost inevitable. Erkins speech slurred that evening as they sat at a dayroom table. Paramedics tried to reopen Brocks airway and rushed him to the emergency room. info@davisvanguard.org, 2020 The Peoples Vanguard of Davis | Sacramento Website design and Implementation by, Superintendent to Present to Council Update on DJUSD Demographics and Student Population Forecast, Letter: University Mall Redevelopment Project, Report: Harmful Legislation Devised for Potentially Unfounded Concern over Shoplifting, Writer Argues New Yorks Bail Reform Success Story after Removal of Cash Bail, Columnist Notes Rare Victory, Supreme Court Gives Death Row Inmate Chance to Spend Rest of Life in Jail, Reform Efforts Implemented by States to Address Family Separation Due to Incarceration, 45 San Francisco Organizations Send Letter Pleading to Maintain Citys Sanctuary Status, OC Register Wants News Media Let Back into Prisons after Nearly 30-Year Ban, UC Berkeley Unnames Moses Hall over Racist Ties. Who cares? We do not generally permit translation of our stories into another language. This is still the case. If you wanted absolutely no assaults on inmates, no assaults on staff, no murders, no suicides you would almost have to have a [guard] assigned to every single inmate or continually have eyes on those inmates.. While Fresno County struggled with jail crowding and staffing, the state faced increasing pressure on its three dozen prisons. A building full of cops and yet more deaths are happening when theyre in jail than the streets, said one commenter, Something is clearly wrong here and does not need to be ignored! She moved to the Sacramento metro area in 2016 to train as a sign-language interpreter, and he joined her for their daughters first birthday. Around 4:30 pm on Tuesday, Fresno County Sheriff's dispatchers took a call regarding a person found to be lying on the side of the road near a grape vineyard. Thats more than in all the preceding year. The Fresno County Jail has been under a federal consent decree since 2015. Mims has expanded the jails force by roughly 100 officers, court records show, but adding staff has not gone smoothly. The most common forms of Fresno County Vital Records include birth and death records, records of marriage and domestic partnerships, and divorce records. Pontotoc County Sheriff's Office, OK. EOW: February 19, 2023. Why is the Coroner's Office involved in the death of my loved one? The phone at Carlos and Anna Herreras home rang about 7:45 p.m., and they were asked to come to the jail. The county has denied all wrongdoing in its court filings. But their lives were at increased risk at the troubled facility, in part, because of it. Fresno County inmate who attacked correctional officer committed suicide in cell. Accidental 5 . The Inmate Search can assist in the search and selection of the offender. Meza misses her partner and the better life they were trying to build. Groups that exceed ten (10) persons will be divided into smaller groups. Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). The Fresno County Jail is a detention center made up of three different adjacent complexes, located at 1225 M. Street, . Their cases kicked off a nightmarish year in a local jail where problems trace back to Californias sweeping 2011 prison downsizing and criminal justice reforms. This family still wants justice for their son and wants to make sure something like this never happens again, Alexis Amezcua, an attorney representing Herreras family in a lawsuit against the county, said in an interview Tuesday. The Fresno County Sheriff-Coroners Office Jail Division will provide jail tours only to persons or groups with professional or academic interests, e.g., dignitaries, law enforcement, court officials, college-level criminal justice majors or law students, etc. Democratic Gov. Were building it, Mims said, with expansion in mind.. Pleasant Valley State Prison is actively recruiting the following positions: For information on Correctional Officer careers, please contact (559) 935-4965, Monday through Friday between 7:00 am and 3:00 pm. (To inquire about syndication or licensing opportunities, contact. Admission to a California state hospital often takes months, and in January 2018 the waitlist was more than 1,000 patients long. Realignment changed the whole game, the sheriff said. Deijon Erkins did not know what had happened to Ari, the family nickname for his brother. Herreras parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the sheriffs office, and a jury trial is scheduled for 2021. A supervising officer assured her that he was OK, Rankin remembered. California Prison Gladiator Fights, Again! The Fresno County Jail is also holding all inmates for much longer periods of time than before realignment. 559-475-9491. Pacheco, 29, is the only person charged in Herreras murder. OK - Feb 19, 2023. Since the 2015 consent decree, lawyers and prison-reform experts have called for more jail staffing. P.O. Note: The Jail Division cannot release an inmate until it has received written notification from the court that all charges have been cleared. He told his partner, Im going to go. Im OK. Dont worry about me, she said he told her. Jail staff began CPR, and an ambulance whisked him to a hospital five blocks away. The sheriff's office . Hes gonna die!. She repeatedly checked the online inmate search tool that evening to see if Brock had been moved to a different, safer cell. A pepper-ball launcher was rushed from the security station. Detention Officer Kenneth Fowler. Mims does not attend those meetings and said she instead sends jail administrators to represent her office. The increase in violence and death in Fresno County lockups started soon after the state was ordered in 2011 by the U.S. Supreme Court to reduce its prison population. Since then, four have died at the hands of other inmates. Its okay to put our stories on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories. FRESNO, California (KWTX) - A judge this week sentenced Tina Gonzalez, 27, a former correctional officer with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, to . By November, the county settled with inmates and agreed in a consent decree to cap the jail population. Susan Russo, convicted of arranging murder of husband, has died at 67. Dec. 16, 2020: California announced a backlog of about 12,000 cases from previous days. And even now, no one at the jail seems to know what happened. My son wasnt no gang member, Herrera said in an interview this year. El Centro de Informacion de Presos sitio por la internet puede ayudar con registro si el delincuente esta corriente en la custodia de la carcel de el condado de Fresno. Tours of the Jail facilities are available on a scheduled basis. 12746 Obituaries. On this website you can find helpful information about items such as: Filing a crime report online, crimes trends and statistics, locating a jail inmate, download and print forms required for various services and learn about the office itself. What if I have no money for funeral expenses (Indigent Cremation)? There are approximately 1,300 employees at the agency who are dedicated to providing professional law enforcement services to the citizens of Fresno County.