The father of a 22-year-old man who died after suffering a severe neck injury during a 2020 Easter weekend arrest for violating a local COVID-19 emergency order, as well as for public intoxication, has filed a federal lawsuit against four deputies of the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.
Attorney Alejandro Guerra filed the lawsuit for Jorge Luis Gonzalez Soto, the father of Jorge Alejandro Gonzalez Zuniga.
The litigation accuses Deputy Steven Farias and Marco Guerrero and two unknown deputies identified as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 for violating Zuniga’s civil rights, leading to life-threatening injuries that resulted in his death.
Zuniga died on July 8, 2020, after suffering multiple complications from his injuries, according to the lawsuit.
He was arrested on April 12, 2020, at 2:15 a.m. at a party at his friend’s house after the sheriff’s office responded to a report of an unrelated altercation.
“During the course of the arrest deputies tackled and assaulted Mr. Zuniga. He was tazed multiple times, pushed to the ground, had his neck crushed, was handcuffed and placed in ankle restraints. At one point he was intentionally tripped and when he would not get up while still fully shackled, he was tazed. Ultimately, he was placed in the patrol car and transported directly to the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center,” the lawsuit stated.
It was there that the litigation alleges the sheriff’s office ignored obvious injuries and did not provide medical attention for nearly 24 hours that his father says resulted in his son’s death.
“During the following weeks Mr. Zuniga suffered multiple complications arising from his injuries. He was hospitalized or sent to the emergency room on multiple occasions. Ultimately, on or about July 8, 2020, Mr. Zuniga’s cause of death was listed as acute on chronic respiratory failure. Mr. Zuniga’s death was the direct consequences of the injuries caused by the arresting deputies and the lack of medical care be these Defendants,” the lawsuit alleged.
Zuniga’s mother, Catalina Zuniga Herrera, his wife, Johana Acosta, first filed a lawsuit against the same defendants last September.
Both lawsuits are nearly identical in wording.
It’s unclear whether the parties are working in conjunction based on a legal strategy.
Guerra, the attorney for Zuniga’s father, declined to comment at this time but said he could be reached for comment in the future.
A public relation’s firm that widely publicized his mother’s lawsuit on behalf of the Thomas J. Henry law firm that filed that suit did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The lawsuits against the deputies make the same allegations.
On April 11, 2020, Zuniga was at his friend’s house on Easter while barbecuing and stayed there until the early morning hours of April 12, 2020.
“At some point during the evening an individual, unrelated to Mr. Zuniga and not part of the party he was attending, but who lived in another part of the trailer park, got into an altercation. Neither Mr. Zuniga nor anyone at the barbeque were involved in this altercation,” the lawsuits state.
Three sheriff’s deputies responded, including Farias.
“When the Sheriff’s deputies arrived, Mr. Zuniga was asleep in the yard of his friend’s house. The Deputies approached Mr. Zuniga and discovered he lived elsewhere. At this time, they told him to go home,” according to the lawsuits.
The litigation says Zuniga followed their orders and started to go home.
“At that point the officers decided to arrest him for violating the emergency management order and public intoxication; two minor, non-violent misdemeanors. These charges were ultimately dropped and dismissed,” the lawsuits state.
This is when the attorneys representing the father, mother and wife say deputies assaulted Zuniga by deploying a Taser on him, pushing him to the ground and crushing his neck.
“Mr. Zuniga was transported directly to the detention center was was not given a medical evaluation to determine the extent of is (sic) injuries. A suicide evaluation of Mr. Zuniga took place on April 12, 2020 at 2:57 a.m. by Deputy Marco Guerrero. At no time does the evaluation make reference to or acknowledge the obvious injuries suffered by Mr. Zuniga,” the lawsuits state.
The attorneys say that at no time prior to booking that Zuniga received adequate medical evaluation by proper medical personnel.
“At the time Mr. Zuniga’s mug shot was taken, which was prior to him being placed in his cell, he was unable to hold his head up and has to be assisted (by) (sic) deputies. Despite the obvious injuries, including a large swollen neck, cuts, and contusions, the jail officials acted with deliberate indifference and at no time sent Mr. Zuniga for medical evaluation or treatment. Instead, he was thrown into the ‘drunk tank’ and left alone,” the lawsuits allege.
He stayed there for more than 21 hours without any medical attention, according to the attorneys.
“Finally, at or near 12:11 a.m. on April 13, 2020, some twenty-two (22) hours after his arrest and twenty-one (21) hours after his booking, someone at the jail checked on Mr. Zuniga. He was found to be non-responsive,” according to the lawsuits.
That’s when the attorneys say staff at the jail eventually transported Zuniga to the hospital for medical care.
“Mr. Zuniga was in desperate need of attention but was denied due to the deliberate and unconscionable indifference of the deputies and jail staff,” the lawsuits state.
EMS arrived and found him to have a hyperextended neck, a swollen neck, hypothermia and other injuries, according to the attorneys.
“At the hospital, (first McAllen Heart Hospital and then the McAllen Medical Center), Mr. Zuniga was found to have hematomas on his left eye, right chest, upper arm and nose; he had a laceration on his left finger; he had a deformity of his right elbow; he has a deformity of his neck; he complained of neck pain; he was bradycardic and he was hypothermic (his temperature was 82.4 degrees). He was diagnosed with a severe cervical fracture, a swollen spinal cord and was a quadriplegic,” the lawsuits allege.
Specifically, the attorneys say he had Rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of skeletal muscle; two of his vertebrae had been pushed over each other; and fractures in his neck that caused paralysis from his neck down.
“Mr. Zuniga was hospitalized until June 5, 2020. During the course of his hospital stay he underwent multiple surgeries and due to his paralysis he was on a ventilator to enable (sic) him to breathe,” the lawsuits state.
Zuniga underwent two cervical surgeries where plates and screws were placed in his neck in an attempt to stabilize his spine, the attorneys say.
“During the course of these surgeries his neck injuries were described as: a contusion from his spinal cord; severe spinal cord compression; marked swelling of his spinal cord; a partial tear of his dura (the membrane surrounding the spinal cord); a completely dislocated and broken up vertebrae; broken facet bones and broken laminar bones. (T)hen (sic) Mr. Zuniga was released from the hospital he was on a ventilator and was completely paralyzed from his chest down. His family was forced to take care of his every need,” the lawsuits state.
Then, on July 8, 2020, Zuniga died, which the lawsuits allege was a direct consequence of injuries he sustained from the arresting deputies and his subsequent alleged lack of medical care.
In a news release issued more than a week after Zuniga’s mother filed a lawsuit, Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra provided the sheriff’s office’s version of events.
“On April 12, 2020, Sheriff Deputies were called to the scene of an early morning disturbance and assault at a mobile home park on FM 88 in the Delta Lake area. During their investigation, they found a large, unconscious, young adult male (later identified to be Mr. Zuniga), lying on the ground among empty beer bottles. He was awakened by the officers but clearly was very intoxicated. I am informed that a later blood test confirmed the presence of cocaine in his system,” Guerra said at the time.
The sheriff said deputies gave Zuniga multiple chances to go inside and safely sleep off his alleged intoxication or to call someone to pick him up.
“He began to walk around aimlessly and knocked on at least one door without success. The owner said Zuniga was not a resident and did not want him at the park,” Guerra said in the statement. “Mr. Zuniga insisted that he was going to walk home which would have involved walking along the highway by a canal in a highly intoxicated state. He was then told that he was going to be placed under arrest and taken into custody so that he could ‘sober up’ in jail.”
Guerra said Zuniga refused to cooperate and became physically agitated, verbally abusive and strongly resisted efforts to be taken into custody.
“Pepper Spray, Tasers, and three deputies were required to accomplish his physical restraint and placement into the backseat of the police cruiser. As he was placed into the car, he made several statements claiming that he had been hurt in the process. Once in the jail, Mr. Zuniga was seen by a nurse, but because of his advanced state of intoxication, his spinal injuries were not discovered until many hours later that day,” Guerra said. “As soon as jail personnel realized he was seriously injured, an ambulance was called, and he was transported to the hospital for treatment.”
Guerra says the sheriff’s office later learned he suffered a vertebral fracture.
“The lawsuit alleges that he later died of complications related to a spinal injury. We are not in possession of the medical records required to confirm the cause of death,” Guerra said at the time.
In initial conference in the new lawsuit is scheduled for early June.
