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(This story has been updated to add comment from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.)
Multnomah County reached a $2.5 million settlement with the family of Clemente Pineda, an inmate who died two years ago in Portland’s downtown jail while detoxing from fentanyl.
Pineda went into withdrawal and died on Aug. 1, 2023. A guard and a certified medication aide had checked on him six times over the course of the afternoon, throughout which he was breathing but unresponsive, WW reported two weeks after Pineda’s death.
The 36-year old received no medical attention for his condition until he stopped breathing, and at that point it was too late to resuscitate him.
Pineda was one of six inmates to die in Multnomah County jails within a three-month period. The deaths prompted Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell to order the Corrections Recommendations Project, an independent review by the Oregon State Police. In total, seven adults died in custody in 2023.
In response to the review, Multnomah County has expanded mental health training, upgraded facilities, amended search procedures, and increased access to Narcan, according to a release from Hala Gores, the attorney representing Pineda’s family. As of May, the project had completed nearly two-thirds of its goals, according to the project’s website.
“This case brought to light serious concerns about the conditions and practices within the Multnomah County detention system,” Gores said in the release. “It punctuated the urgent need for accountability and reform to ensure the safety and dignity of individuals in custody, and I’m so pleased for the life-saving policy changes it has brought forth.”
A spokesman for the sheriff’s office said the settlement hasn’t been finalized. The matter will go before the Multhomah County Board of Commissioners next week. The department declined to comment further until the board holds the hearing on the matter.
