Woman sues state prisons over decapitation of her son by cell mate

A woman has sued the state prisons department over the decapitation of her inmate son after he was placed in a cell with a convicted murderer with a long history of violence.

According to the complaint, filed by attorneys Justin E. Sterling of Encino and Erin Darling of Los Angeles, plaintiff Dora Solares' son, Luis, was transferred to California State Prison, Corcoran on March 7, 2019, and moved into a cell with Jaime Osuna the next day. Osuna, pictured in a photo included in the complaint with his face covered in tattoos, is serving life without parole for a 2011 torture murder.

After guards did not check the cell overnight, the complaint asserts, the next morning, "Mr. Romero was found decapitated, and Mr. Osuna was found wearing a necklace of Mr. Romero's body parts."

The complaint claims "Osuna's own lawyers and medical team" said he should be confined to a psychiatric ward. The complaint also cited his long history of violence against other prisoners, including attempted murder, and said Osuna had been housed alone since 2012. Claims under the Fourth, Fifth, Eighth and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and several state laws are alleged in Solares v. Diaz, 1:20-at-00158 (E.D. Cal., filed March 2, 2020).

The complaint comes as the overcrowded California prison system contends with rising suicide and death rates along with high costs associated with housing mentally ill inmates. On Tuesday, U.S. Eastern District Chief Judge Kimberly J. Mueller approved six new staff members for the special receiver's office overseeing the prison mental health system under Coleman v. Newsom, 90CV00520 (E.D. Cal., filed April 23, 1990).

Also this week, a legislative budget subcommittee met in Sacramento to discuss the possibility of closing one to two prisons in the coming years in order to cut costs. One of the attorneys in the Coleman case, Prison Law Office executive director Donald H. Specter, testified in favor of the idea despite the fact state prisons are still filled above capacity. A Legislative Analyst's Committee report presenting at the hearing suggested consolidating prisons and building new high-security housing designed to help reduce suicide and prisoner violence.

This long-running litigation centers on the lack of psychiatric beds and other shortfalls that have plagued the system. On Monday, an attorney with the legal team representing inmates, Cara E. Trapani with Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP, submitted a proposed agenda for a March 20 status conference in the case. She asked the court to address the department's suicide prevention efforts and inpatient psychiatric treatment, as well as alleged retaliation against Coleman class members.