Robert Borrego Jr (17) hanged himself with a bed sheet in his jail cell
Published: Jul 22, 2013 @ 9:44 PM
Robert Borrego (17)
Date: Jun 15, 2009
Suicide by: Hanging
Location: Pueblo, CO
URL: view their profile
The family of a teenager who killed himself while in custody at the Pueblo County Detention Center has sued the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office.
Selena Martinez and Robert Borrego Sr. allege in their suit that the sheriff's office was negligent in its care of their 17-year-old son, Robert Borrego Jr., after he had been transferred from the Pueblo Youth Corrections Center to the jail.
According to a complaint filed in Pueblo District Court in June, the boy was suffering from depression and was suicidal.
The complaint said Borrego attempted suicide on May 22, 2009, four days before he was booked into the jail.
Despite that, he was evaluated by jail staff on May 27 and determined not to be a suicide risk. As a result, Borrego was taken off a schedule that called for regular checks every 15 minutes, the complaint said.
Removing Borrego from suicide watch also entitled him to items not normally allowed, including a bed sheet.
Even after the new evaluation, deputies were checking on Borrego's status every 30 minutes, the suit said.
But the suit claims Borrego's cell was not completely visible to deputies nor was every corner of the room observable by cameras.
The suit claims that around 9 p.m. on June 15, 2009, jail staff who were responsible for observing Borrego every half hour left the area to respond to another matter that was not an emergency and that they were absent from their posts for about 52 minutes.
During that time, Borrego was able to find the blind spot in his cell and strangled himself with the bed sheet.
Because the officers were not conducting their routine checks, Borrego was able to kill himself, the suit claims.
Furthermore, the suit claims efforts to revive Borrego stalled when the closest defibrillation machine failed to work and people were sent looking for another one.
The suit also claims that while Borrego was put in a separate cell from the adult inmates, they were still able to communicate with him. Minors are required to be segregated from the adult population.
Borrego was arrested in connection with a stabbing outside a Toughman competition. He was transported to the jail after being charged as an adult. He was never convicted of the crimes.
Shannon Reed, attorney for the family, said the parents are asking for damages that include the cost of the funeral and for pain and suffering.
Pueblo County's Critical Incident Team conducted its own investigation into the death and found no criminal wrongdoing on the part of the department.
The team, comprised of members of all the law enforcement agencies in the county, announced its findings in December.
Leslie L. Schluter, attorney for the department, was not able to comment on the suit Friday. She said she will file her response to the complaint within the next few weeks.
Related Article(s): http://www.chieftain.com/news/local/article_8eb6efbc-8bf6-11df-b7e2-001cc4c03286.html
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