The families of two people who died in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in 2020 have filed lawsuits against Bernalillo County, the jail and medical staff alleging they failed to treat the inmates for withdrawal symptoms.
April 20, 2020:
Antonio Romero, 55, died of a heart attack. The manner of death was determined to be natural. Romero had pleaded guilty to an aggravated DWI charge and was serving his sentence. He was booked into jail on Feb. 27.
Antonio Romero
According to the autopsy report, in mid-April Romero complained of chest pain and was taken to the infirmary, given an antacid, and observed for several hours. According to incident reports, the next day he took a shower, returned to his cell and less than 30 minutes later a guard noticed he didn’t look right. The guard entered the cell and found Romero was not breathing and did not have a pulse. CPR was started, but Romero died.