A federal judge has refused to toss a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Irma Espinoza, a 43-year-old woman who was found half-submerged in a water-filled ditch in Lemon Grove in late July 2025. The complaint says sheriff's deputies ignored repeated welfare calls and that the first responding officer drove off without getting out of the patrol SUV. Espinoza was pulled from the ditch days later, taken to a hospital and later died; court papers say the county medical examiner pointed to complications tied to chronic alcohol abuse and organ damage as the cause.
Judge Leaves Key Claims Intact
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel declined to dismiss several causes of action in the family's complaint, allowing claims against unnamed sheriff's deputies and three supervisors to move ahead while dismissing a cause against Sheriff Kelly Martinez and a separate countywide policy claim, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. The lawsuit was filed Dec. 30, 2025, and is docketed under case number 3:25‑cv‑3835 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, the federal docket shows (Justia Dockets & Filings). Plaintiffs say they are pursuing federal civil-rights claims and have demanded a jury trial.
Neighbors Say Deputies Brushed Off Calls
Neighbors, including Richard Quinones, told reporters they first saw Espinoza sitting by a drainage ditch and called the sheriff's nonemergency line. When a deputy arrived, the suit alleges the officer pulled up, stayed inside the vehicle and then left without checking on her. Quinones said he returned three days later and recorded a video showing Espinoza half-naked, swarmed by ants, and nearly submerged in the water. He and the family say first responders then pulled her out of the ditch, but she died soon after, as reported by NBC 7 San Diego.
Autopsy Findings And The Family's Claim
According to court filings and reporting by The San Diego Union-Tribune, the county medical examiner listed Espinoza's cause of death as complications of chronic alcohol abuse with hepatic cirrhosis and acute pancreatitis. The family and their attorneys say the autopsy failed to mention bruising and contusions they observed and argue that deputies' initial response and comments discouraged neighbors from calling for help again. That account has also been detailed in the Los Angeles Times.
What Comes Next
The case will now move forward in federal court. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Eugene G. Iredale and Julia Yoo, and the docket lists the County of San Diego, Sheriff Kelly Martinez and "Does 1–10" as defendants, per the federal record (Justia Dockets & Filings). The San Diego County Sheriff's Office has said it cannot comment on pending litigation, and the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board has received a related complaint and is reviewing the matter, according to NBC 7 San Diego.
