Breanna Esparza
Breanna Esparza, 29, was a mother who had been working on her recovery from addiction through an outpatient treatment program, and her family and treatment providers say she had been clean. She was held at the Sandoval County Detention Center in New Mexico in May 2024, and was found unresponsive in her cell on May 28; she was declared dead in the early hours of May 29 from what the autopsy, as reported, found to be a fentanyl overdose. Her father's wrongful death lawsuit says jail staff failed to carry out proper medical screening, missed mental health care that she had asked for, and that drugs got into the jail. The county said it assumed she got the drug from another person held there and that it is reviewing the suit, while her family asks how she came to use drugs in jail. She left behind a son, who is being cared for by his grandparents.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose (disputed; neglect alleged). The county says she likely got fentanyl from another detainee, and her father's wrongful death lawsuit alleges negligent medical screening, missed mental health care, and drugs entering the jail, while her family and treatment providers say she had been clean and question how she obtained the drug.
Reported by: Sandoval County (the agency that held her); wrongful death lawsuit filed by her father; her family and treatment providers.
Lawsuit: Her father filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging negligent medical screening, missed mental health care, and drugs entering the Sandoval County Detention Center, and the county said it is reviewing the suit.