LOS ANGELES — An Oakland family is demanding answers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after an inmate was found dead in his single person cell in September.

The coroner said 27-year-old Jalani Lovett died of an overdose on fentanyl and heroin Sept. 22, exactly two years after he was taken into custody for robbery.

“He’s been in lockdown, 23 hours a day,” said his mother, Terry Lovett, in an interview with Spectrum News 1. “How did he get some fentanyl and heroin? He had no inmate contact.”

While the coroner’s report found no evidence of foul play or external trauma, Terry Lovett questioned bruises on her son’s body in photos she obtained from the medical examiner. She filed a wrongful death claim against Los Angeles County Wednesday, alleging Jalani was beaten to death.

She claims Men’s Central Jail still employs members of the 3000 Boys, an alleged violent deputy gang involved in previous civil rights lawsuits and settlements.

A spokesperson with the Department of the Medical Examiner expressed their condolences to the Lovett family in an email addressing questions from Spectrum News 1.

“Postmortem changes or changes after an autopsy can sometimes appear as bruising or other trauma, and it is understandable that it may be concerning for family members, but they are part of what happens to bodies after death,” the email said. “The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner is an independent medico-legal agency that uses science and forensic pathology to determine cause and manner of death. It is not unusual for law enforcement to be present at the autopsy, but their presence does not impact the findings of our investigations.”

The Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau investigates all in custody deaths and still has an open investigation into Jalani’s case, according to Lt. Brandon Dean. Dean said investigators do not know how the drugs got into the single-person cell, but added it is not uncommon to find drugs in Men’s Central Jail.

Deputies administered Narcan and CPR upon finding Jalani unresponsive in his cell, according to the coroner’s report.

Fifty people died in Sheriff’s Department custody last year, an increase from 2020, according to Melissa Camacho-Cheung, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

“LASD does not have to make deaths public, especially as they occur, so there’s a real lack of transparency and a lack of understanding from the public to understand what the Sheriff’s Department is doing to try and decrease the deaths and make sure people stay alive when they’re in custody,” Camacho-Cheung said. 

LA County’s Inspector General Max Huntsman, who was tasked with overseeing the department, also lamented a lack of transparency.

“LASD investigates all deaths in its own custody,” said Huntsman in a statement to Spectrum News 1. “This often includes investigating themselves, which is why monitoring is a minimum requirement to ensure thorough and fair investigations. Since LASD currently refuses to allow meaningful monitoring, we can’t vouch for the integrity of their process.”

After learning the history of lawsuits and settlements regarding Men’s Central Jail, Terry Lovett vowed to take her fight to federal investigators.

“My son ain’t the first son, and if they don’t clean up their system, he won’t be the last,” she said.