Add The California Post on Google The family of a murder suspect who died of a fentanyl overdose in a Southern California jail cell is set to receive millions.
A federal jury reached a verdict Wednesday, awarding $13.5 million to the family of Richard Matus Jr. The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Riverside County and the Sheriff’s Department in 2023, alleging that deputies failed to act in a timely manner when Matus suffered an overdose on Aug. 11, 2022.
At the time, Matus was in custody at the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center, awaiting trial on attempted murder charges.
Matus and his brother, Raymond Emilio Paul Matus, were accused of a cannabis store robbery in 2018 which resulted in two people getting stabbed and one almost shot. Raymond was convicted of attempted murder for the crime two years after Richard died of the overdose.
Richard died at Cois M. Byrd Detention Center while he was in custody and awaiting trial for the cannabis shop robbery.
The jurors calculated the total damages at $13.5 million to be split among Matus’ son, daughter, and mother. But, they also found Matus 60% responsible for his own death. The LA Times reports that the family will ultimately receive only 40% of the total damages –– nearly $5.4 million.
The verdict brought a long-awaited sense of vindication for Lisa Matus after years of fighting for her son, Richard. “We got the truth out there, and we’re going to continue to move forward and continue to push for the oversight because there are some changes that need to be done,” she said, the Times reports.
“This verdict sends a message: these lives matter. Constitutional obligations matter. And there must be consequences when the government fails the people in its custody,” Matus family’s lawyer, Denisse O. Gastélum in an Instagram post after the verdict.
Matus leaves behind two kids –– 17 year-old and Richard III, who is now 14 –– who testified during the trial about how profoundly their lives changed after losing their father.
Around 10 p.m. on Aug. 10, 2022, Matus drank a batch of “pruno”—homemade prison alcohol—that was laced with fentanyl, the family’s attorney Christian Contreras told the Times. Roughly an hour later, Matus’s cellmate noticed him clutching his chest in distress and hit the emergency intercom at 11:17 p.m.
Instead of dispatching medical aid, the response from jail staff was dismissive, Matus family attorney claimed. “The deputy picked it up and said, ‘Stop bugging,’ and [ended] the call,” Contreras added.
In 2022, Riverside County jail facilities recorded 18 inmate deaths, marking the highest single-year mortality rate the system has seen in 20 years, KCVR reported.
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