Jail put "violent" inmate in man’s cell and he was killed within 45 minutes, suit says

A California man died in jail because deputies didn’t put him in a mental health housing unit and instead assigned a “violent” convicted sex offender as his cellmate, a newly filed civil rights lawsuit says.

Yuri Brand, 39, who had schizophrenia, was jailed on a non-violent offense at the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, where staff knew of his diagnosis and housed him with the facility’s general population, according to the lawsuit provided to McClatchy News.

During his fifth day in jail as a pretrial detainee, staff put Bryson Levy, a man with a violent criminal history, in his cell on Sept. 13, 2023, a complaint filed Sept. 5 says. At the time, Levy was experiencing a “mental health episode,” according to the complaint.

Within 45 minutes of Levy entering Brand’s cell, he attacked Brand, suffocated him with a mattress and killed him, the complaint says.