San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez Meeting

The Sheriff is REQUIRED to meet with the Serna Family by the Federal Judge before the deadline of June 28, 2025

In December 2024, Michael and Paloma Serna, parents of Elisa Serna, who died in San Diego County’s Las Colinas jail in 2019, met with Sheriff Kelly Martinez to demand accountability for Elisa’s death and the continued pattern of in-custody deaths across the county.

Despite sharing the pain of losing their daughter and highlighting systemic failures that contributed to Elisa’s death, the meeting was fruitless. Sheriff Martinez offered no commitments to structural reforms or timely transparency for impacted families.

Key issues raised included:

• Negligence in medical care and safety checks that continue to result in preventable deaths.
   
• Lack of transparency and delayed communication with families.
   
• Ongoing failures by both custody staff and medical providers.
   

Sheriff Martinez provided empty reassurances but no meaningful solutions or plans for change. The department continues to operate without transparency, independent oversight, or consequences, while families like the Sernas are forced to do the work of investigations and advocacy on their own.

We remain committed to fighting for:

• A full, independent investigation into in-custody deaths in San Diego County.
   
• The end of public contracts with negligent private medical providers.
   
• State and federal intervention to stop the cycle of preventable deaths behind bars.
   

We will not be silenced! We will not be ignored! We demand justice!