Two families have filed federal lawsuits claiming negligence in the death of a state prisoner and a jail inmate.
One suit involves Dimitris Kalatzakis, imprisoned at Salinas Valley State Prison. The other involves Jacob Parenti, a Monterey County Jail prisoner, according to the Monterey County Weekly.
Both were found dead in their sleeping quarters.
The Monterey County coroner’s report concluded that Kalatzakis died from “blunt force trauma with strangulation,” allegedly murdered in October 2013 by his cellmate, Brandon Keen.
The Dec. 28 suit names the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, saying prison officials knew of Keen’s skinhead gang affiliation and activity. Keen was serving 25 years for mayhem and was convicted of attacking another prisoner while he was housed in the Riverside County Jail, slashing the inmate with a razor in the face and ear.
The Kalatzakis family alleges that the department’s policies and practices pertaining to the protection of prisoners were inadequate. The family also said CDCR policy states that inmates with prior violence toward cellmates should not be doubled celled.
Salinas Valley State Prison is known to be one of the most violent prisons in the state, the newspaper stated. The suit says the rate of inmate-on-inmate homicides there from August 2013 to December 2013 was the highest of any CDCR maximum-security prison.
Parenti’s family is alleging that his death on Jan. 16, 2014, was due to inadequate medical treatment. The family’s account of events, as reported by the newspaper, is as follows: Parenti developed flu-like symptoms Jan.10, and around the same time, began coughing up blood. He did not receive a medical appointment for a sick call request he put in that same day, nor did he receive one following another request Jan. 12.
On Jan. 15, Parenti was called along with other prisoners who were scheduled to see the nurse. Parenti was non-responsive when an officer was said to have gone over to Parenti’s bunk and shook him. According to the article, Parenti was still breathing when the officer was present.
There were some prisoners who noticed that Parenti had a bluish hue on his face and summoned officers utilizing the phrase “Man down.”
Information was not furnished as to when Parenti was pronounced dead; however, the coroner’s report concluded Parenti died of drug intoxication, induced by the use of multiple drugs.
The Parenti family sought an independent autopsy, which concluded that he died from the flu and that was complicated by pneumonia.
Parenti, 33, leaves behind a 7-year-old son.
Both lawsuits were filed in Monterey County.
