Mother whose son died in jail plans to sue local government
Four entities including YCSO and city of Yuma mentioned in notice
The attorney representing the mother of a Somerton man who died last year while in custody at the Yuma County Adult Detention Center has sent out a Notice of Claim, informing four local government entities of the victim’s intent to sue them.
The notices are on behalf of Somerton resident and Cocopah Tribal member Winona Stevens, whose 29-year-old son Jorden was arrested on Feb. 15, 2017, at about 5:40 a.m. in the 300 block of West 1st Street by Yuma police on suspicion of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and disobeying a police officer.
Jordan’s attorney, C. Candy Camarena, has sent notices to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, the Yuma County Jail District, the Yuma County Board of Supervisors and the city of Yuma, alleging the wrongful death of her son.
Before someone can sue a government agency they must send out what is known as a Notice of Claim, which is essentially a letter informing them of the nature of the claim and that they intend to start a lawsuit against them. The agency then has 60 days to respond.
Once this happens the agency being sued can either resolve the issue without going to court through a settlement, do nothing — which will lead to a judgment being rendered — or respond to the court papers and participate in the court case.
Submitted last week, the notice said Stevens will sue unless each of the named public entities settles the complaint by paying her $1 million. If not, then she is asking a jury to award her punitive damages following a civil trial.
Stevens is seeking all of the damages allowed under the Arizona wrongful death statute. She is seeking compensation for the loss of love, affection, companionship, comfort, care and protection; and for the cause of pain, grief, sorrow, anguish, stress, shock and mental suffering she experienced and will experience in the future as the result of the death of her son, according to the document.
Steven’s allegations against the four named entities stem from the circumstances of her son’s arrest by Yuma police and his subsequent treatment by sheriff deputies while in custody at the Yuma County jail.
In the claim, she alleges that the Yuma police officer who arrested her son struck him in the face with a closed fist, knocking him to the ground, which caused him to suffer brain damage due to blunt force trauma.
It further alleges that while in the custody of sheriff’s deputies at the Yuma County jail, her son was beaten, had an electronic stun device used on him, was restrained, and had a spit mask put over his mouth and nose.
According to reports in the Yuma Sun archives, at approximately 1:30 p.m. detention officers working in the Yuma County Adult Detention Center were escorting Jorden Stevens from his holding cell for release procedures when he became passive aggressive with them.
Officers continued to give Stevens verbal commands but he refused to comply and became physically aggressive toward them, and an electronic control device was used to gain compliance.
Stevens was then escorted back to the holding cell. Then at approximately 1:44 p.m., officers monitoring Stevens observed that he had become unresponsive and immediately requested medical assistance.
Officers and YCSO registered nurses performed CPR on Stevens until the Yuma Fire Department arrived on scene and took over providing care. Stevens was transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased at 2:24 p.m.
The Yuma Sun contacted Yuma County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Alfonso Zavala, Yuma County Director of Communications Kevin Tunell, and city of Yuma spokesman Dave Nash for response to this article.
All declined to comment, citing that it was pending litigation, as did Camarena.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 5396854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.