Family awarded millions for dad’s fatal overdose in notoriously deadly SoCal jail system

Richard Matus Jr. spoke to his 13-year-old daughter over the phone from a Riverside County jail the night before she started eighth grade and promised they’d talk after her first day. But she never heard his voice again.

On Aug. 11, 2022, Matus died from a fentanyl overdose in his cell at the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center, where he was awaiting trial. His was one of a record-breaking 19 deaths in the Riverside County jail system that year.

His family alleges that a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy failed to take appropriate action when Matus’ cellmate initially reported the medical emergency. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and the Sheriff’s Department in 2023.

On Wednesday, a federal jury found that the county bears partial responsibility for Matus’ death and is responsible for paying his son, daughter and mother roughly $5.4 million in damages.

The total award to the family was $13.5 million, but they will only receive about 40% of that, because the jury ruled that the county was 40% responsible for Matus’ death and he was 60% responsible.

“The trial was hard-fought, and the county of Riverside denied any responsibility throughout the entire trial,” said the family’s attorney, Christian Contreras. “The case hinged on the testimony of inmate witnesses who testified in shackles and orange jumpsuits.”

In 2023, the California Department of Justice launched a civil rights probe into the practices of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department that led to the spike in in-custody deaths. The Sheriff’s Department and county have also faced a flurry of litigation from families whose loved ones died in the jail system, including about 15 cases represented by Contreras’ firm.

From February 2023 through April, there were an additional 29 inmate deaths in Riverside County, and in June a Riverside County civil grand jury report called for a civilian oversight board of the jail system in response to persistent concerns regarding in-custody deaths.

Matus’ death took place at the height of the fentanyl epidemic in 2022, when Riverside County jails experienced close to 100 inmate drug overdoses, seven of which resulted in death, according to court documents. Despite being well aware of the presence and danger of the drug within the jail system, the Sheriff’s Department failed to act urgently when Matus was overdosing, his family alleged.

“This case was about a failure to timely provide medical care,” said Contreras. “If [the Sheriff’s Department] would have provided timely medical care, Mr. Matus would be alive with us today.”

Around 10 p.m. on Aug. 10, 2022, Matus consumed a homemade prison alcohol called Pruno that “happened to be laced with fentanyl,” Contreras said. Later that evening, his cellmate saw him holding his chest and appearing unwell, and at 11:17 p.m. the cellmate pressed the intercom button to alert prison personnel that Matus was suffering from a medical problem.

“The deputy picked it up and said, ‘Stop bugging,’ and [ended] the call,” Contreras said. The cellmate “tried to press intercom again to summon help, and it just kept ringing and ringing.”

Though the intercom button is intended for use in emergencies, inmates were using it “for pretty much any reason to get the deputies’ attention,” according to court documents.

Although the defendants and plaintiffs disagreed in court over whether the cellmate’s initial calls for help were ignored, both parties agreed that deputies did respond to a “man down” call in the cell at 11:28 p.m. Medical intervention was provided, but it was too late to reverse the overdose, and Matus was pronounced dead at 12:15 a.m., according to court documents.

His two children, Gia, who is now 17, and Richard III, who is now 14, testified in court about the impact losing their father had on their lives, Contreras said. Gia shared how sad she was that her father would never be able to walk her down the aisle, while Richard talked about how he still missed his dad every day.

In a letter read to the court after the verdict was announced, Gia told the jurors she deeply appreciated the justice they helped her family achieve.

“To the opposing party: I sincerely hope that one day you all will acknowledge your accountability,” she wrote. “As the grown men that you all are, I hope you find the courage to take responsibility for your actions and understand the impact caused on others.”