Deaths in LA Men’s Central Jail continue after county voted to shut it down six years ago

Criminal justice and civil rights advocates rallied outside the Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday morning to demand the immediate closure of the Men's Central Jail (MCJ) and denounce the 23 people who have died this year in jails and prisons operated by the LA County Sheriff's Department. 

Six years ago, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to close down the jail. The 2020 vote included a plan to shut MCJ down within 18 to 24 months. The jail remains in operation. 

Each of the 23 deaths within the sheriff's jail facilities happened just days apart, with the youngest man being a 26-year-old Latino man who died in MCJ.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) 2026 “In-Custody Deaths Public Disclosures” report, out of the 23 men who died this year under LASD custody, 18 of them had not even been sentenced or gone into their court hearing, including two men who hung themselves inside their cell. 

For years, the MCJ, which is located steps away from Union Station, has faced claims of unconstitutional and inhumane conditions, including lack of access to health care, overcrowding, unhealthy water supply and rat and roach infestations, among many other issues. 

Advocates said the closure process has not only been slow and drawn out, but it has also led to dozens of men's deaths. 

“Since the Board of Supervisors voted to close Men's Central Jail in 2020, around 300 people have died in custody,” Janet Asante, lead organizer of the JusticeLA Coalition, told CALÓ News. “We're seeing the highest rate of in-custody deaths in the last 20 years, despite the jail population being lower by about 5,000 people than it was six years ago.”

The denouncing of inhumane conditions inside the jail is not new and has been ongoing. 

Last September, the California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a civil rights lawsuit against L.A. County, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Correctional Health Services over dangerous conditions inside the jail system, which first opened 63 years ago in 1963. 

In the lawsuit, Bonta referenced a 2021 investigation launched by his office, which revealed ongoing constitutional violations at MCJ, including inadequate plumbing, sanitation and temperature control and failure to provide adequate medical and mental health care, which he said has contributed to multiple deaths. 

“We’re going to court because we have no other choice—we will not let Los Angeles County continue to ignore its responsibility to the health, safety and well-being of the individuals under its care. Los Angeles operates the largest jail system in the United States—and one of the most problematic,” Bonta said in September. “When we’re talking about feces smeared on the walls and medical care denied to those in need, we’re talking about a disrespect for the basic dignity of our fellow humans and a violation of their most fundamental constitutional rights.”

At that time, the sheriff's department denied the accusation regarding the conditions inside the jail, arguing that the lawsuit was based on “outdated information,” adding that the department had invested approximately $309 million in custody facility upgrades and operational improvements for the jail. 

Yet advocates say many who have recently visited the jail have encountered the issues of poor quality of drinking water, unsanitary food and people dealing with delayed medical care.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” said Jose Bernal, political director for the Ella Baker Center Action Fund, a grassroots organization that works with low-income communities impacted by policing and incarceration. “It is a moral failure of one of the wealthiest counties in the country to keep a jail that houses individuals with mental health crises and needs, locks them up [and] cages them to die.” 

On Tuesday, Bernal, along with the rest of the advocates, called on Bonta to demand and fight for accountability from the county departments regarding jail conditions. 

“It's been 10 months since that lawsuit was put forward and what has it done?” Bernal said. “We are here calling on the attorney general's office to do the right thing, to take action. We will vehemently, adamantly, fiercely and unapologetically [continue] to stand with the mothers and families of those that are currently incarcerated, [have been] formerly incarcerated and all individuals impacted by state violence.” 

As previously reported by CALÓ News, the fight to close down the jails has been led by the many families, especially mothers who have lost loved ones inside MCJ. 

One of these mothers is Helen Jones-Phillips, who was born and raised in Watts and is the mother of John Horton, who died in MCJ custody in 2009. 

Authorities originally said Horton's cause of death was suicide by hanging, according to an independent investigation and the Office of Independent Review for LA County; an autopsy showed Horton had internal bruising from injuries incurred before the hanging.

"He was beaten to death in Men's Central Jail by the ruthless sheriff gangs that run CMJ,” Jones-Phillips said. “They have beaten and killed inmates and our community members over the last 60 years.”

According to the independent report, sheriff’s deputies inside the jail were tasked with checking in on Horton after being notified that he was showing signs of extreme discouragement and deep sadness. Yet during the hours leading up to his death, the requisite checks were not made and the deputy in charge of supervising Horton had left his post to go to the gym, shower and do a “chow run” with his supervisor’s approval. 

After the alleged suicide, it was found that sheriff’s deputies then tried to cover the sheriff's abandonment of post by creating fake bar codes that would falsely document the periodic “welfare checks.” 

Jones-Phillips was awarded a $2 million settlement from the county and, since then, continues to fight for the closure of the MCJ. 

Another mother who continues to ask for transparency inside the jail is Vanessa Perez, mother of Joseph Perez, who six years ago was brutally beaten by sheriffs part of the “Industry Indians” gang. At that time, he was experiencing a mental health crisis. 

Perez has since filed an ongoing civil lawsuit against the County of L.A. 

On Tuesday, Perez said her son has been left with seizures lasting up to two minutes since the incident.

Despite the county’s expressed support for closing the jail, there is still no set date or definite year of closure. 

After the 2020 Board of Supervisors voted to close the CMJ, a two-year plan was announced a year later in 2021. Then, in 2024, another updated five-year plan was announced.  

"This is an emergency. How many more lives have to be lost before these institutions close,” Asante said. “We need to close MCJ; no more delays.”