Elisa Serna
Elisa Serna was 24 and five weeks pregnant. Her family says she grew up in Nevada and Southern California with her parents and five siblings, and that she was like a second mother to them. She died in her cell in the medical observation unit of the Las Colinas women's jail in Santee, San Diego County, on November 11, 2019, five days after she was booked. Her family's lawsuit says she was in severe withdrawal, that staff ignored her requests for care, and that she was left on the floor for about an hour after a seizure and fall, and video shown in court reportedly shows staff walking past her cell as she collapsed. The family was first told she had died of an overdose, which they dispute; the county Medical Examiner's Office attributed the death to natural causes related to substance abuse, and a 2021 county review board found pneumonia and dehydration. In 2024 the county agreed to pay $15 million and adopt policy changes.
Cause of death, as reported: Died from neglect by staff (disputed). Her family's lawsuit says jail medical staff ignored obvious signs she was seriously ill and left her on the cell floor for about an hour after a seizure, while the county medical examiner ruled the death natural, related to substance abuse.
Reported by: San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office (medical examiner or coroner); family's federal wrongful death lawsuit (family or their lawyers); San Diego County Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board (outside investigators).
Lawsuit: Her family sued San Diego County over her death at the Las Colinas women's jail and the county agreed to pay $15 million in 2024.
News reports (19)
- Jail reform advocates call on San Diego County to address in-custody deaths
- San Diego doctor charged in woman’s jail death, accused of ignoring signs of serious illness
- Doctor charged in woman’s 2019 jail death, accused of neglecting her when critically ill - San Diego Union-Tribune
- Videos show inmate dying inside medical isolation unit at Las Colinas Detention Facility
- Doctor, nurse accused in 2019 in-custody death at Las Colinas ordered to stand trial
- Nurse found not guilty in San Diego jail death, jury deadlocked for doctor
- Charges dropped against doctor in San Diego County jail death
- After hung jury, San Diego DA moves to dismiss case against doctor in inmate death
- Years after Elisa Serna’s death in jail, newly unsealed records reveal damning details of serious lapses in her care - San Diego Union-Tribune
- San Diego County settles Elisa Serna jail death lawsuit for $15 million, and limited federal oversight - San Diego Union-Tribune
- San Diego reaches $15 million settlement with family of pregnant woman who died in jail
- After record $15 million settlement, San Diego County still confronts a slew of other jail-death lawsuits - San Diego Union-Tribune
- County of San Diego Pays Record $15 Million Over Wrongful Death Suit
- Medical Board Revokes License of Doctor in 2019 Las Colinas Jail Death of Elisa Serna, 24
- Doctor acquitted in patient’s jail death to surrender medical license
- In 5 years since investigation, little progress in stopping deaths in San Diego County jails - San Diego Union-Tribune
- Their daughter died in jail. Wrestling triumph from tragedy, they launched a nonprofit to seek justice, reforms. - San Diego Union-Tribune
- Montgomery Steppe proposes new oversight body for Sheriff’s Office - San Diego Union-Tribune
- ‘She was a hero’: Families, advocates of those who died in jail honor journalist Kelly Davis - San Diego Union-Tribune