Guadalupe Garcia
Guadalupe Garcia, 57, died on July 25, 2022, while held at the South County Detention Center in Tulare County, California. The family's attorneys, John Carpenter and Carpenter & Zuckerman, allege that officers restrained him prone with his hands cuffed behind him, compressed his chest, and left him motionless in his cell for an hour or more before medical help was called. The Tulare County Sheriff's Office says the medical examiner listed the cause of death as an accidental methamphetamine overdose, and the matter is now in federal court. The attorneys dispute that finding and plan to challenge it, and the allegations have not been decided.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of an overdose (disputed; neglect alleged). The medical examiner ruled the death an accidental methamphetamine overdose, but his family's attorneys say officers pinned him prone and compressed his chest, and that staff left him motionless in his cell for about an hour before responding.
Reported by: Tulare County Sheriff's Office, citing the medical examiner (the agency that held him); medical examiner or coroner; family's attorneys (Carpenter & Zuckerman) and federal lawsuit (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: Family members of Guadalupe Garcia sued Tulare County in federal court over his death at the South County Detention Center, alleging excessive force and failure to provide medical care, and the case remains in litigation with no amount reported.