The mother of a woman who died in a San Diego county jail, rallied all week for justice with the help of a local advocate. KPBS reporter Kitty Alvarado talked with them about their unexpected friendship and the change one jail death created.
“I couldn't even sleep," Miller said. “How could this happen in the modern day, how could this happen in the jail?”“She was neglected further so long that she had rigor mortis when they came in,” he said. “She was neglected to death.” “Unfortunately, CLERB has no jurisdiction over medical personnel. So we can't say whether we think they did something right or wrong or even look into that,” Parker said, adding that’s something he’s trying to change.“We mobilized the community to show up to the CLERB,” Miller said, “to express our disappointment that no one would be held accountable.
“And I think that may have been a catalyst to get the ball moving and looking at it from a different perspective,” Parker said.Miller said Elisa may have died before giving birth to her second child. But she did give life to a movement. “And the community was exposed to the system which took the life of Elisa Serna and Gilbert Gil and and Omar Arroyo and Saxon Rodriguez, and people were saying maybe my loved one,” he said.