The mother of a woman who died of a drug overdose at the Metropolitan Detention Center filed a lawsuit against Bernalillo County last week alleging a corrections officer failed to complete required checks and also broke the jail’s computer use policy by watching videos and playing games during his shift.
“This case is about MDC failure, the jail’s failure, to take care of the people that it is required to take care of,” said the family’s attorney Jason Wallace in an interview with City Desk ABQ.
The jail’s computer use policy states that corrections officers should not do anything with county internet access resources that would otherwise be considered illegal or grossly inappropriate.
According to the lawsuit, while 41-year-old April Peterson overdosed in the early morning hours of June 21, 2023, Corrections Officer Jason Malizia spent the majority of his shift watching videos on YouTube, including Major League Baseball highlights, KRQE News, and the movie You don’t mess with the Zohan. For the hour before Peterson’s death, the computer’s browsing history shows he was also playing a game.
Daniel Trujillo, spokesperson for MDC, said in an email that the county will review the lawsuit and address it accordingly.
From 2019 to February 2024, 31 people have died while in the custody of the jail.
‘They rely on the jail for everything’
Wallace said it’s incumbent upon the guards who work at MDC to take care of the detainees.
“When someone is incarcerated at MDC, they rely on the jail for everything — for food, for medicine, for water, for clothes. They can’t just get up and leave and take care of themselves,” he said.
Peterson, who was booked into MDC on June 20, 2023, was found dead in the jail’s detox unit on June 21 — of a drug overdose. She had been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and tampering with evidence.
“Ms. Peterson was admitted into MDC on… and she admitted to the health care folks there that she was an addict,” Wallace said. “So they knew that she was going to have to detox.”
While in the detox unit, Wallace said Peterson was able to get methamphetamine and fentanyl, and she died of an overdose within 26 hours of being booked.
According to the complaint, when Peterson was booked into MDC, she walked through a full-body scanner and was also scanned by a metal detector in search of weapons and narcotics. She was also physically searched for foreign objects in her body and nothing was found.
Peterson was given a medical exam and told jail officials she needed substance abuse services because she used methamphetamine and fentanyl daily, the lawsuit states.
Peterson was then placed in a cell by herself to be monitored while she detoxed from the drugs and then sent to the detox unit. Wallace told City Desk ABQ that Peterson was placed in a low-to-the-ground plastic bed called a “boat,” where she spent most of the day.
The timeline of April Peterson’s final hours at MDC, according to the lawsuit:
11:04 p.m.: Malizia begins his shift as a corrections officer in MDC’s detox unit.
11:47 p.m.: Malizia used the unit’s computer to navigate to YouTube, which is prohibited while officers are on duty.
1:11 a.m.: Malizia began watching You don’t mess with the Zohan on YouTube.
1:24 a.m.: Malizia used the computer to play the game Bricks Breaker Quest Classic.
2:06 a.m.: Malizia played Bricks Breaker Quest Classic.
2:08 a.m.: Peterson approached Malizia before going to the restroom while Malizia watched, You don’t mess with the Zohan.
2:15 a.m.: Peterson returns from the restroom. After Peterson returned from the restroom, Malizia allegedly played another game of Bricks Breaker Quest Classic.
2:25 a.m.: Malizia allegedly played another game of Bricks Breaker Quest Classic.
3:10 a.m.: Malizia conducted a welfare check and noticed Peterson’s mouth and eyes were wide open.
3:11 a.m.: Malizia found Peterson lying on her bed unresponsive and used his radio to initiate a medical emergency.
3:54 a.m.: Peterson was declared dead by the jail’s medical staff after they conducted chest compressions.
Not performing all welfare checks
At 11:04 p.m. June 20, 2023, the lawsuit alleges, Malizia started his shift in the detox unit.
Malizia’s duties required routine welfare checks on the inmates every 30 minutes, but Wallace said that an audit found that less than half — 44% — of his welfare checks were conducted within 30 minutes of each other.
“It also found that he only performed 77% of the welfare checks he was required to perform while on that shift,” Wallace said. “So he was negligent — I’m going to use the word negligent — in his duties. He had a job to do and he didn’t do it.”
During her time in the unit, Wallace said Peterson got out of bed and asked Malizia to use the restroom and for a new pair of pants.
“She goes to the restroom and he goes to get the pants. She puts them on and goes back to her bed and passes away shortly after,” Wallace said.
According to the lawsuit, Malizia can be seen on surveillance videos watching videos on YouTube and playing video games instead of completing his welfare checks. It states that before Peterson’s death, Malizia accessed the computer’s browser 48 times to watch YouTube videos and play games.
The lawsuit states that he first logged onto YouTube at 11:47 p.m. and it wasn’t until 3:10 a.m. that he found Peterson unresponsive.
The AED never delivered a shock
When Malizia found Peterson, the lawsuit states, her mouth and eyes were open. He called out her name, but she didn’t answer, so he felt for a pulse.
The lawsuit states that another guard also attempted to feel for a pulse, but could not find one. MDC Sgt. Carlos Chavez entered the unit and ordered the two guards to use an Automated External Defibrillator on Peterson.
Corrections officers placed the pads on her bare chest, but court documents state that the AED never delivered a shock. It’s unclear why it didn’t work. The medical team arrived and performed manual chest compressions until Peterson was declared dead.
The lawsuit, which alleges severe negligence and violation of civil rights, will depend on a jury to determine damages.
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