Chula Vista man dies in San Diego County jail, seventh in-custody death this year

Four days after he was booked into San Diego County jail, Saxon Fredrick Rodriguez was found unresponsive in his cell and later died, the Sheriff’s Department announced Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Chula Vista man is the seventh person to die in custody this year, a death that comes three weeks after state lawmakers voted to investigate the inmate-mortality rate under Sheriff Bill Gore.

More than 150 people have died in San Diego County jails since 2009, the year Gore first became county sheriff. The Sheriff’s Department has averaged more than one in-custody death per month dating back 10-plus years.

Rodriguez was arrested last Friday by Chula Vista police on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon that was not a firearm and indecent exposure, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Details of the events leading to Rodriguez’s arrest were not immediately clear. Relatives of the deceased inmate were informed of the death Wednesday, the Sheriff’s Department said. They could not be reached for comment.

Sheriff’s officials said deputies discovered Rodriguez in medical distress about 10 a.m. Tuesday inside his cell at the Men’s Central Jail downtown.

“Deputies and medical staff immediately performed lifesaving measures until relieved by fire department personnel,” the department said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Rodriguez was pronounced deceased at the facility.”

Officials said there was no evidence of foul play in Rodriguez’s death.

The case is being investigated by the Sheriff’s Department homicide unit, which regularly examines all jail deaths. The Medical Examiner’s Office is scheduled to conduct an autopsy Thursday, officials said.

The county Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board also will investigate, although the volunteer panel has no authority to impose discipline or policy recommendations related to misconduct of lapses in protocol.

Rodriguez has a history of minor criminal offenses, according to San Diego County court records.

Prior charges from 2019 ranged from possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance to petty theft and making a criminal threat, the District Attorney’s Office said.

All of the previous cases were misdemeanors, prosecutors said.

The District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that no details of the arrest by Chula Vista police last week were available because charges had yet to be filed.

San Diego County has the highest jail-mortality rate among California’s largest counties, according to a six-month investigation published in 2019 by The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The “Dying Behind Bars” series relied on department data, court records and dozens of interviews with attorneys, jail staff, corrections experts and inmates and their relatives to show lapses in medical care contributed to the deaths.

The Sheriff’s Department disputed the findings and said its own reports showed the mortality rate was on par with other urban counties. Officials also said they added staff and imposed new safety practices to reduce deaths.

The department’s decision to publicly announce inmate deaths within 24 hours is relatively new.

Earlier this year, amid complaints from family members and others, Gore reversed a years-long policy of withholding inmate death notices until the department’s internal investigations were completed. That process often took months.

In late June, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee of the California Assembly and Senate voted to review practices inside San Diego County jails to find out why the mortality rate exceeds other large counties.

Sheriff’s Department officials said they welcomed the outside review. A report is expected early next year.