Kelly Davis

Journalist

San Diego

California-based investigative reporter and editor focusing on the criminal justice system and vulnerable populations

Kelly Davis

Journalist

San Diego

California-based investigative reporter and editor focusing on the criminal justice system and vulnerable populations

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State auditor: San Diego jails are so bad a new law is needed to force Sheriff’s Department fixes
With 185 deaths over 15 years, San Diego County jails are so unsafe and deficient that state lawmakers should intervene by forcing the Sheriff’s Department to change course, the California State Auditor said in a scathing report issued Thursday. The audit
San Diego Union-Tribune
CA Supreme Court decision upholds jury award for man who fell in Vista jail
The California Supreme Court has denied a request by lawyers for San Diego County to review an appeals court decision upholding a multimillion-dollar jury award for a man who suffered permanent brain damage after falling in the Vista jail.
San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego County pays $1M to family in inmate death, pushing year’s payouts past $14M
Before he was served a meal in a plastic bag and left unmonitored in his San Diego County jail cell, Ivan Ortiz told guards he was feeling depressed and hearing voices telling him to kill himself, his family said in a lawsuit.
San Diego Union-Tribune
Number of drug overdoses in San Diego County jails jumps sharply
In 2018, there were 11 overdoses on drugs in San Diego County jails, Sheriff’s Department records show. Already this year there have been 53 overdoses, including a 12-day spate in May in which 20 people at four different jails were administered naloxone, emergency medication to keep them from dying.
San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego-area lawmakers file joint request for state audit of county jail deaths
All local Democrats except Sen. Hueso are seeking outside review of inmate deaths over the past 15 years. Six lawmakers from San Diego County have asked the state auditor to investigate years of deaths inside the local jail system, which has recorded the highest mortality rate among California’s largest counties.
San Diego Union-Tribune
Lawsuits prompt questions about jail oversight
When the volunteer board that investigates complaints against the San Diego Sheriff’s Department looked into what killed Paul Silva, the panel found that no jail policies were violated and closed the case.
San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego County agrees to pay $3.5M to settle 2018 jail death
Paul Silva, 39, died on March 28, 2018, suffering from brain damage and other injuries. His death came less than two days after he had been taken to jail by San Diego police. He is one of 140 inmates who have died in San Diego County jails since 2009. San Diego County will pay $3.5 million to the family of a mentally ill man who died three years ago after sheriff’s deputies tried to forcefully remove him from a jail holding cell.
San Diego Union-Tribune
Julian man choked to death on face mask in sheriff’s custody, autopsy finds
Omar Moreno Arroyo, the first inmate to die in San Diego County custody this year, choked to death on a face mask while inside a holding cell, awaiting release on a charge of being under the influence of drugs, an autopsy has concluded. The Medical Examiner’s Office said Arroyo’s death occurred despite aggressive life-saving measures on the part of Sheriff’s Department employees and paramedics.
San Diego Union-Tribune
Widow kept in the dark about husband’s death in San Dieg jail
Omar Moreno Arroyo was acting strangely on the morning of Jan. 7. He was drilling holes in the wall of the Julian cabin he shared with his wife, and he was convinced someone else was in the house. “He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know who I was or what was going on,” said Arroyo’s wife, Tammy Wilson.
San Diego Union-Tribune
ACLU sues San Diego County jails to get inmates vaccinated
Few San Diego County inmates have been vaccinated so far while jail announces a new outbreak. A lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court asks a judge to require Sheriff Bill Gore to either vaccinate a sufficient number of people in his jails to prevent further COVID-19 outbreaks or reduce the inmate population to a level that allows for adequate social distancing “at all times.”.
San Diego Union-Tribune
County supervisors to consider making jail phone calls free
When Georgina Mercado was arrested in Chicano Park in 2016 and booked into the Las Colinas women’s jail in Santee, her first thoughts were about her children, who were 2, 4 and 6 years old at the time. Mercado ended up spending three months in custody before the charges were dropped. Her grandmother, whose only source of income was a monthly Social Security check, took care of the children.
San Diego Union-Tribune
Woman left alone to die after striking her head in jail, independent review finds
Elisa Serna struck her head against a wall of her jail cell as she collapsed from a seizure in November 2019. The 24-year-old was suffering from heroin withdrawal, pneumonia and dehydration. She was unconscious when she hit the floor, according to an independent investigation released late last week.
San Diego Union-Tribune
Despite 12 deaths this year, Sheriff’s Department continues to deny its own jail-inmate mortality data
Sheriff’s sergeant misinforms, mischaracterizes citizens’ review board about Union-Tribune investigation last year. More than a year has passed since The San Diego Union-Tribune published the results of a six-month investigation into the high number of deaths inside county jails since Bill Gore became sheriff.
San Diego Union-Tribune
As sheriff struggles to contain COVID-19 outbreaks, active infections in San Diego jails exceed 500
Employees and inmates describe ‘horrible’ conditions, blame command staff for failues. Nine months after the novel coronavirus took root in San Diego County jails, cases are continuing to spread, and employees and inmates say they are afraid for their safety. The Sheriff’s Department is now reporting more than 400 active cases of COVID-19 among its inmates — or 11 percent of the total jail population.
San Diego Union-Tribune

About

Kelly Davis

I'm a freelance journalist based in San Diego who focuses on issues related to adult and juvenile incarceration, mental illness and homelessness. Until March 2015, I was the associate editor at San Diego CityBeat, an alternative newsweekly that I helped start in 2002.

My work has included investigations into the high rate of deaths in San Diego County jails and conditions in juvenile detention facilities. I've also written extensively about coronavirus in jails and prisons, California’s sex offender laws and the city of San Diego's ongoing efforts to address its large homeless population. My reporting has been honored by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. I'm currently a fellow at The Imprint, a nonprofit news outlet focused on child welfare and the juvenile justice system.