Coachella Valley woman dies of illness after months in Riverside County jail, sheriff says
A Coachella Valley woman who'd been an inmate in a Riverside County jail died in a hospital this week of an "ongoing illness" that doctors had deemed terminal, the sheriff's department announced. It said there were no signs of foul play.
She was still in the sheriff's legal custody at the time she died Wednesday, the fifth death of a person in the Riverside County jails this year and among dozens that have happened since last April.
Astrid Johnson, 62, was arrested by the sheriff's department after an alleged violation of supervised release in Coachella in August 2022, jail records show, and was most recently housed at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside. The sheriff's department said she had been admitted to a hospital for "several weeks" due to an ongoing illness. Johnson was at the Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley, according to department records.
The sheriff's department reported that "Johnson's family was notified of her death," but a press release did not say whether the department or hospital staff notified relatives. The families of some other people who died after being inmates have told The Desert Sun the sheriff's department never notified them of the deaths, even after they in some cases called the jail and hospitals repeatedly seeking information.
Court records show Johnson was in the sheriff's custody while her mental competence to stand trial was being evaluated since August. In May, she was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial and had been referred to a program with the California Department of State Hospitals. At her last court date, on June 27, it was reported that she was 556th on the waiting list to be admitted to a state hospital.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco's department, which operates the county's five jails, last year reported the deadliest year behind bars on record, with what was later determined to be 19 in custody deaths between April and December. Before that the department had not reported more than 12 since 2005, when records were first made readily publicly available.
And the number is almost certainly an undercount, as The Desert Sun identified one man who suffered an apparent overdose while in Riverside County jail. His family found out of his critical condition through his cellmate and ultimately paid his bail to be able to play a more active role in his care. Sean Harris died soon after and was not technically in the department's custody.
Controversy has plagued the deaths, as The Desert Sun reported last year that the department illegally failed to report them to the California Department of Justice within the required 10 day deadline. And when they did, they repeatedly reported inaccurately that people had been sentenced at the times of their deaths when in fact they were in jail awaiting trial.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta opened an investigation of the sheriff's department in part due to the number of in custody deaths last year, to determine if the department has violated the civil rights of the incarcerated and the public it polices.
A pair of lawyers have filed four federal lawsuits on behalf of the dead this year, alleging the sheriff's department has not upheld its Constitutional mandate to keep people safe while jailed awaiting trial. Court records show several others have been filed as well.
Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley woman dies of illness after months in county jail
