Sandoval Co. faces suit over inmate’s overdose

Inmate died after using fentanyl in his cell

Sandoval County is facing a wrongful death lawsuit that alleges corrections officers and medical staff failed to administer Narcan to an overdosing inmate even though it was well-known that drugs were present in the facility.

On Oct. 26, 2017, Jordan Carter, 42, had been at the Sandoval County Detention Center for just over a year on federal firearms charges, court documents show.

“The failure of the county to implement systems of surveillance and monitoring at the SCDC likewise resulted in drugs being used and exchanged by inmates and detainees in the facility,” according to the lawsuit filed in late September by a representative for Carter’s estate.

Sandoval County does not comment on pending litigation, according to a spokeswoman. Attempts to reach Southwest Correctional Medical Group, which is also named as a defendant, were unsuccessful.

Carter took fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl following a lockdown and soon after, his cellmate saw Carter lose consciousness and begin to seize, hitting his head on his bunk. The lawsuit says Carter’s cellmate pounded on the window trying to get help, but it took five to eight minutes for a medical team to make it to his cell.

“When corrections officers finally arrived at Mr. Carter’s cell, he was gasping for air, soaking wet and lying on his left side on his bunk,” the suit says.

Officers recognized that Carter had overdosed, but “there was no Narcan (Naloxone) readily available for emergency use for administration to inmates showing (signs) of troubled breathing.” When a nurse and emergency medical technician arrived around 11:15 p.m., neither administered Narcan. Instead, Carter was taken to a medical unit where he was given CPR. When EMS arrived at 11:38 p.m., they placed Carter on a resuscitation system and continued CPR, the suit says.

Carter was pronounced dead at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 27, 2017. Medical examiners would later determine his cause of death to be “toxic effects of fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl.”

In a statement, Louren Oliveros, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, said there was no Naloxone at the facility, even though it is cheap, easy to use and can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

“A swift and safe response by the County and its medical providers could have saved Jordan Carter’s life,” Oliveros wrote. “The County is entrusted to safely house detainees and provide medical care. County employees ignored five straight minutes of inmates banging on their cells before responding to Jordan Carter’s imminent death. When the response came, it was grossly inadequate.”

The plaintiff is seeking unspecified compensatory and other damages.