The family of a 29-year-old woman who died of a fentanyl overdose while in custody at the Sandoval County Detention Center has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and its private medical provider, alleging staff ignored her severe mental health crisis and failed to prevent lethal drugs from circulating in the jail.
The civil complaint, filed March 25 in the 13th Judicial District Court, names the Sandoval County Board of County Commissioners, medical contractor CorrHealth and several jail administrators and medical personnel as defendants.
In a statement responding to the litigation, Sandoval County Manager Wayne Johnson defended the facility’s operations.
“Sandoval County and the Sandoval County Detention Center are committed to the well-being and safety of our detainees, our staff and on-site vendors,” Johnson said. “Every day, we adhere to regulations, guidelines and best practices to achieve successful outcomes at our facility. We do not waver from this commitment. At present, we are reviewing the recently filed lawsuit.”
Jesus Esparza, the father of Breanna Esparza, brought the suit on behalf of her estate. Breanna Esparza, a mother of one, died from the toxic effects of fentanyl early on May 29, 2024, just hours before she was scheduled to be released on an alleged drug possession charge.
According to the lawsuit, CorrHealth medical staff repeatedly failed to evaluate or treat Esparza for her known, severe history of substance abuse and suicidal ideation. Despite detention center records documenting years of severe drug addiction, a methadone hospitalization and a previous suicide attempt by heroin overdose, medical staff noted she had “no history” of narcotic use or mental health issues during her intake and subsequent evaluations.
The complaint alleges that an urgent, “top priority” psychiatric appointment was delayed and rescheduled eight separate times between May 14 and May 29 because no provider was available.
The lawsuit also outlines severe security failures on the night of Esparza’s death. Just 20 minutes before Esparza overdosed, another female inmate in the same housing unit, known as B Pod, overdosed on opiates and was transported to the hospital.
Despite the earlier overdose emergency, jail staff allegedly took no protective measures and did not search the pod for illicit substances. If they had, the lawsuit claims, they would have found the fentanyl that Esparza later ingested, which another inmate had allegedly smuggled into the facility.
Correctional officers and a nurse found Esparza unresponsive, pale and with blue lips in her cell around 11:30 p.m. on May 28 during a routine medication pass. Staff administered CPR and multiple doses of Narcan, but an automated external defibrillator could not immediately be used because the machine’s pads had been ripped during the other inmate’s overdose emergency 20 minutes earlier.
Esparza was pronounced dead at 3:42 a.m. on May 29. The Office of the Medical Investigator later found a folded piece of paper with crushed blue pills beneath her body.
The lawsuit accuses Sandoval County and CorrHealth of maintaining a dangerous pattern and practice of allowing illicit drugs to enter the facility while denying inmates adequate medical and mental health care. The complaint cites several other overdoses and suicides at the detention center in recent years as evidence of systemic failures, including a 2023 incident where searches revealed 115 fentanyl pills and other illegal drugs inside the facility.
The plaintiff is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, along with statutory damages under the New Mexico Civil Rights Act, for counts including cruel and unusual punishment, medical malpractice, negligence and unfair trade practices.