The woman inmate in the Orange County Jail who was found hanging in a holding cell Friday night has died.
She was identified as 35-year-old Rosa Bonilla. She had been arrested by Orange police on a misdemeanor drug charge earlier Friday. She had been taken to a Beaumont hospital in critical condition after a jailer discovered her.
Minutes after the sheriff’s office released the news of Bonilla’s death, Sheriff Keith Merritt (right) and County-District Attorney John Kimbrough sent a three-page letter to the news media saying they will not speak at a county forum tonight on a lawsuit involving the 2011 death of an inmate.
The county recently paid $3.1 million to the family of Robert Montano for his death inside the jail. A federal jury awarded the money to the family and the decision was upheld through appellate courts.
County Judge Brint Carlton (left) had called for the public forum tonight for officials to answer questions about the lawsuit loss. He requested that questions be emailed in advance.
Carlton, who is a lawyer, set the public forum for 5:30 this evening at the Orange County Expo Center on FM 1442. He has said Merritt, Kimbrough and Assistant County Attorney Doug Manning, who represented the county in the Montano case, would attend.
In the letter this morning, Merritt and Kimbrough wrote “after reviewing some of the questions that are to be posed, and notwithstanding that we have very good answers to each of them, it is clear that we cannot legally or ethically attend a public meeting and discuss those issues.”
The county is currently facing a new federal lawsuit filed by an inmate who was injured while he was being booked into the jail for intoxication. He suffered broken ribs and serious mouth lacerations after being slammed to the floor by a jailer. The jailer was later found guilty of misdemeanor assault in connection with the injury. County Commissioners Court is set to discuss that lawsuit during a closed-door session during the commissioners’ regular Tuesday meeting.
Following Kimbrough and Merritt’s release, County Judge Carlton said, “I am disappointed the Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office have refused to discuss public information with the public. As public officials, we have a duty to be open, honest, transparent, and accountable to the people. I will not hide behind future litigation in an unrelated case in an effort to avoid discussing glaring and deadly mistakes in completed litigation. I will still live up to my obligation as an elected official and attend the Town Hall this evening to answer as many questions as I can for as long as it takes. The public has a right to hear from us about this catastrophic outcome.”
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