The family of 31-year-old Callen Lines is taking San Diego County to federal court after she was found dead while detained at the Las Colinas detention facility in Santee. In a newly filed wrongful-death lawsuit, relatives say Lines spent her final hours begging for medical help as she went through withdrawal, only to be ignored and left without proper monitoring or treatment. She was later discovered unresponsive and pronounced dead a few hours after those calls for help, according to the complaint, which her family says is about forcing accountability from the county and the companies that run medical care inside the jails.
The suit was filed this week in U.S. District Court in San Diego by Lines’ husband, her two children, her sister and her father, according to 10News. It names San Diego County, several jail deputies and medical staff, along with private contractors that provide health services in county lockups. The complaint argues that the county’s procedures for handling people with substance abuse issues are “constitutionally deficient” and claims that reforms promised after earlier in-custody deaths never truly took hold.
Allegations Describe Ignored Pleas And Missed Safety Checks
According to the complaint, Lines used the jail intercom four separate times to report seizures and vomiting, but deputies allegedly “called her a `liar' and terminated the calls” even as she “screamed and begged for help, stating several times that she could not breathe,” as reported by 10News. During her final intercom call, she reportedly told staff she was going to pass out and was told, “Sit down.” The lawsuit also says a deputy doing a safety cell check ignored her when she asked him to stop and talk to her. A few hours later, she was found dead.
Autopsy Findings And Booking Timeline
An autopsy by the San Diego County Medical Examiner concluded that Lines died from fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity and records show she was found unresponsive on May 12, 2025. County documents indicate she had been booked the previous day and that an intake urinalysis tested positive for multiple narcotics. Those findings were detailed by the Times of San Diego.
Earlier Jail Deaths And Big-Dollar Settlements
The complaint points to prior deaths at Las Colinas, including the 2019 death of Elisa Serna, which resulted in criminal charges, medical license actions and a roughly 15 million dollar settlement, as well as the 2022 death of Vianna Granillo, whose family has also filed suit. Plaintiffs argue that those cases, and the reforms that were promised afterward, did not stop what they describe as an ongoing pattern of neglect. Reporting by Patch outlines the Serna settlement and other fallout that families say should have led to stronger and more consistent changes inside the jail system.
What The Federal Case Puts On The Line
The lawsuit accuses San Diego County of constitutional failures that could support federal civil-rights claims and seeks both monetary damages and changes to how detainees are monitored and treated medically. Past cases involving the county’s jail system have triggered criminal referrals, licensing reviews and sizable civil payouts, and advocates say ongoing legal pressure has at times nudged jail policy. The county’s track record of high in-custody death rates and the recent Serna settlement have put a brighter spotlight on whether reforms will actually stick, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The case remains active in federal court, and county officials are expected to respond as it moves forward. Lines’ relatives say they brought the suit to demand accountability and to try to prevent more deaths inside San Diego County jails.
