James Borling-Salas
James Borling-Salas, 23, was held at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in Hawaii when, on December 14, 2019, he was injured in an altercation with other people held there. The state Department of Public Safety and Honolulu police have described it as an alleged assault. His family's lawsuit, filed by his mother Janet Salas, says other people held at the facility severely beat him in the Annex 1 dormitory, and that corrections officials failed to protect him and did not tell her about the beating. He was taken to a hospital and later moved to hospice care, and he died on January 16, 2020. The Attorney General's Office is investigating, and autopsy results were pending at the time of reporting.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (disputed; neglect alleged). The state Department of Public Safety and Honolulu police describe a traumatic injury from an alleged assault by other people held at the jail, with autopsy results pending; his family's lawsuit says other inmates severely beat him and that corrections officials failed to protect him and did not tell his mother about the beating.
Reported by: state Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz (the agency that held him); Honolulu police (outside investigators); his family's lawsuit, filed by mother Janet Salas through attorney Eric Seitz (family or their lawyers); Deputy Attorney General James Walther (outside investigators).
Lawsuit: His mother, Janet Salas, sued the state over the beating that she says left him fatally injured at Oahu Community Correctional Center, and the case has no reported settlement or award.