Vicente Villela
Vicente Villela, 37, was a father of three, according to his family. He died in February 2019 at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where officers restrained him face-down in a seclusion cell in the psychiatric acute care unit. Video shows him saying he could not breathe before he stopped moving. The state medical investigator classified the death as a homicide from mechanical asphyxia during restraint, and prosecutors said officer Jonathan Sandoval pressed his knee into Villela's back on orders from a supervisor. Two officers were tried for involuntary manslaughter and found not guilty in October 2022, while the defense argued that methamphetamine, fentanyl and an enlarged heart contributed to the death; the family's wrongful death lawsuit later settled for $4.56 million against Bernalillo County and Centurion Detention Health Care Services.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed). The Office of the Medical Investigator classified the death as a homicide from mechanical asphyxia during physical restraint, and prosecutors say officers held him down, with an officer pressing a knee into his back on a lieutenant's order; the defense says methamphetamine, fentanyl and an enlarged heart contributed, and an officer's lawyer says his client followed training.
Reported by: New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (medical examiner or coroner); Bernalillo County prosecutors and the Attorney General's Office grand jury (outside investigators); Albuquerque Journal (reporters).
Lawsuit: A lawsuit was filed over Vicente Villela's death at the Metropolitan Detention Center, and no settlement or award amount has been reported.