Relatives of a man who died after being found unconscious in a downtown Los Angeles jail cell are demanding answers about his death, while questioning whether authorities missed signs that he was having a mental health crisis.
Daniel Magaña, 40, died Sept. 5 at an area hospital, about 10 days after he was found unresponsive in his cell at Twin Towers Correctional Facility, according to relatives. They say he was arrested by the LAPD on Aug. 21 for allegedly evading police and was booked the same day into the jail downtown.
Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department records show that Magaña was the ninth person to die this year after being housed at Twin Towers. A 10th inmate died on Sept. 20 from a cause that has yet to be determined pending an autopsy.
In a wrongful death claim filed Sept. 21, Magaña’s family said authorities were aware of his lifelong struggles with mental health and were told during his booking that he had expressed suicidal ideations. A day after arriving at the jail, the claim says, Magaña suffered an unspecified medical emergency that required hospitalization at the Los Angeles General Medical Center. When he returned to the jail, according to the family’s claim, the staff failed to place him in “appropriate acute mental health housing” or “provide the psychiatric evaluation, monitoring, medication, and treatment his condition required.”
The Sheriff’s Department typically houses mentally ill prisoners at the Twin Towers, but Magaña’s family claims he was not transferred to a specialized unit within the jail that deals with more challenging cases.
Three days later, on Aug. 25, he was found again unresponsive in his cell after suffering a “second catastrophic emergency,” according to the claim. Jail staff tried to revive him before he was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Sept. 5.
The family said it’s been unable to get clear answers about what happened from the Sheriff’s Department, whose website lists the death of a man matching Magaña’s characteristics who died “after the illness or injury” at Twin Towers. The manner of death is listed as pending the outcome of an autopsy.
In response to an inquiry by The Times, the department said that it takes every in-custody death seriously and that it “recognizes that timely and thorough safety checks are essential to protecting the health and well-being of individuals in our custody.”
“It is equally important to recognize that the circumstances surrounding each in-custody death are complex and cannot be evaluated through isolated events alone,” the statement read. “An individual’s medical history, condition upon entering custody, and the totality of circumstances surrounding their incarceration must also be considered.”
His sister, Alejandra, recalled Magaña as an easygoing charmer who would chat up strangers on the street and who found joy in tinkering under the hoods of his five cars.
She said that his love of motors dated back to the age of 8, when their father taught him to drive by letting him steer from his lap when they were nearing their Echo Park home. At 12, he got pulled over after taking the family car for a spin.
Magaña was diagnosed with bipolar and schizoaffective disorders as a young teen, but growing up in a large, traditional Mexican family, mental health wasn’t talked about as openly as it is today, she said.
Before his incarceration, Magaña managed to keep his mental health struggles mostly contained with medication for years, Alejandra said.
She said there were signs that he was “in psychosis” when, as the family was preparing for their mother’s birthday party on Aug. 21, he made comments about taking his own life.
From experience, she said, the family had a plan for such episodes. They called a number for the county’s psychiatric emergency teams, and were told that “at that point he was going to meet criteria” for an evaluation. After he left the house, Alejandra said, they called again and were told to dial 911.
Alejandra said the family told the police officers who responded that Magaña sometimes would become gripped by a delusional paranoia that made him believe the government was after him, and said they worried he would harm himself or others. Officers called back later to say that Magaña had been arrested for “evading the police” and was booked into the Van Nuys jail. He was later transferred to Twin Towers.
When Magaña didn’t appear in court for a hearing on Aug. 24, his family called the jail but didn’t receive any information about him, she said. It wasn’t until later that they learned he had been hospitalized. When they visited him, they found him under a tangle of tubes, with guards stationed outside his hospital room. The family received conflicting information from hospital staff, Alejandra said, with one doctor telling them that Magaña’s injuries were consistent with a fall, while another said he had likely been asphyxiated.
Alejandra said she is convinced her brother would still be alive if jail authorities had paid closer attention.
Deputies are supposed to walk the corridors of county jails every half-hour to check on the welfare of the incarcerated men, and yet a report released in mid-August by L.A. County’s Office of Inspector General found that inconsistent safety checks remain a problem.
“One thing is losing a loved one, but another thing is not knowing how he died,” Alejandra said.
Magaña leaves behind three sons and two daughters, aged 11-22. In interviews, several of his children described the yawning hole that his death had left in their lives. His oldest son, Noah, 18, said that he had forced himself to confront his father’s death, however painful it was, because doing otherwise was “not honoring him and what he went through.”
“It’s just been tough on me and everyone here,” he said.
Alejandro, 13, said that the sight of his father’s red and black Monte Carlo parked outside of their family home “just makes me miss him a lot.”
“It was always his dream car,” he said.
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna previously told The Times that efforts to reduce in-custody deaths are ongoing but challenging, partly because the inmate population has been increasingly older and ill, with many suffering from drug addiction or long-term conditions.
In March, Luna asked the National Institute of Corrections to conduct a review of jail conditions after a period in which 10 inmates died in custody in less than three months. Last fall, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta sued the Sheriff’s Department over what he called “unsafe and unconstitutional conditions” inside county lockups.
The department saw 46 in-custody deaths in 2025, a steep increase from the 32 reported in 2024. About 82% of those in custody disclosed at least one medical or mental health issue when booked, officials said.
Luna has pointed to changes that have already been made as efforts to improve conditions, including deploying body-worn cameras at the Inmate Reception Center, Men’s Central Jail and Twin Towers.
Times staff writer Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report.
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