The family of a young Orange County man who was injured in a traffic collision at the entrance to Ocean Beach and then who was taken to County Jail for “driving under the influence of drugs,” want answers. Because six days after his arrest, Hayden Schuck was found dead in his cell.
On March 10, 2022, San Diego Police Officers responded to a traffic collision near Sunset Boulevard and Interstate 8. At the scene, police arrested 22-year-old Schuck for DUI drugs.
But Schuck was so sick at his first court appearance, five days after his arrest, that he was unable to appear. The next day he died.
Schuck’s parents, Tim and Sabrina, are searching for answers as to how and why their young son died. The family hasn’t even received an autopsy report. Eight months after his accident and arrest.
Now the family has filed a legal claim against the County of San Diego to get some answers.
According to CBS8,
“The September 15, 2022, legal claim, …is the latest in a string of legal claims and lawsuits over deaths inside San Diego County jails. It comes as the county looks to reform conditions inside of its detention facilities, and weeks after Governor Newsom vetoed a state bill that would have ensured changes were made in county lockups after a state audit that found that the department had failed to implement the changes on its own.
“According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s website, Schuck is one of 19 people to die inside a San Diego County jail so far this year, one of more than 200 people to have died since 2006.”
As of today, Wednesday, Nov. 2, that number has risen to 20.
The county has failed to provide details about what happened during Hayden Schuck’s last six days inside Central Jail. “Under the law, the County was responsible for Hayden’s safety once they took him into their custody and care,” says Lauren Williams, one of the lead attorneys on the case.
In the hours after their son’s arrest, the family contacted the jail to make sure he was not in danger. The lawyer stated:
“After learning of his serious car accident and arrest, his family tried frantically to confirm his well-being and ensure he was receiving necessary care in jail. The county jail refused them any meaningful information about their own family member. And they didn’t allow any family to speak to Hayden.”
According to police, they found an unregistered “ghost gun” inside Schuck’s car, along with a large capacity magazine. And they claim they took Schuck to the hospital where he declined treatment and then transported him to Central Jail.
Hayden’s parents are helping others like their son who turned to drugs amidst a life-long battle with ADHD and other mental health issues. CBS8:
Just nine days after hearing that their son had died in his jail cell, the family started a GoFundMe fundraising drive and the William Hayden Schuck Memorial Fund to help middle-aged children cope with mental health illnesses as well as to improve mental health screening inside county jails.
The fundraising drive has raised more than $40,000, well above the family’s goal.
“Our goal with starting the fund was to raise money to implement essential early intervention and prevention strategies for children with ADHD and related mental health challenges in schools—something Hayden would have benefited greatly from.”
Added Sabrina Schuck, “We also want to see an increase in training and the implementation of evidence-based mental health interventions for detainees in the county jails.”
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We seem to have developed a callousness in this country toward people who end up in jail. We don’t seem to care why they are jailed. We just figure if they are in jail, they deserve whatever they get. So the number of persons who die from improper or lack of medical treatment climbs, and we sit on our hands and shrug. It’s time for prolonged citizen involvement to let whoever becomes our sheriff know that we insist on improved care for incarcerated persons. But that would mean tempering our current habit of instant judgment and investing ourselves in continued public dialogue with elected officials, two things we have been unable to accomplish as a nation since the expansion of social media. We are too busy on our phones, or playing our games, or commenting on the new pronunciation of “Adele.” (It’s “uh-DALE,” I think.)