A family member called law enforcement for help regarding a person suffering a mental health crisis, and officers responded and shot and killed the person, who was holding a knife. If they sound similar, that's because they are.
If they sound similar, that's because they are.
A family member called law enforcement for help regarding a person suffering a mental health crisis, and officers responded and shot and killed the person, who was holding a knife.
That's what happened to Elisha Lucero in 2019. And now a wrongful death lawsuit claims that's what happened to Jared Romero.
In 2023, Romero was a military veteran suffering from PTSD and delusional disorder.
“I raised my children, including Jared, to respect law enforcement. I taught them to call the police if they needed help,” said Jared's father, Martin Romero. Ta. “[Now] I will never call the police for help again. ”
Martin and Jared's three brothers met with four investigators to investigate the failures of the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office that led to Jared's wrongful death.
Timeline
2021: Jared's family, and Jared himself, have noticed an increase in paranoid behavior.
Jared gives up his gun. Jared's brother, Brandon, said Jared called him and told him he didn't want a gun in the house.
“He mentally understood what was going on and knew he wasn't the right person to keep them,” Brandon said.
Halloween 2022: Jared calls the BCSO on himself. At his South Valley home, Jared told deputies he believed people were trying to kill him. He refused to go to a mental hospital, saying he needed to go to work. Internal emails between BCSO Behavioral Health Supervisor Diane Dorsall and Sheriff John Allen indicate that a call to Jared's home address was marked “dangerous” to alert deputies to the potentially increased risk of a call to Jared's home address. It is indicated that a “signal” may have been requested. It wasn't.
March 2, 2023: Jared goes to the BCSO South Valley substation and tries to turn himself in to crime investigators, as you might imagine. Jared is taken to a mental hospital. His information will be entered into the crisis intervention database. The database says his “mental state has deteriorated,” he has “homicidal thoughts,” and he has “no history of threats against LEOs.” The agent contacts Jared's father, Martin.
March 3, 2023: Martin enters the BCSO South Valley substation and speaks with the sergeant who spoke with Jared. Martin is told about the Crisis Intervention Database. The sergeant explained that Jared had been taken to a psychiatric hospital and that he should call him if he had any problems or concerns.
April 16, 2023: Martin tries to call the BCSO South Valley substation, but it is closed on Sundays. His calls are routed to the Bernalillo County Communications Department. Mr. Martin had just had a disagreement with Jared over financial aid, and he explained that he was worried that Jared might try to commit suicide. The dispatcher codes this call as his 10-10, or benefits check. Internal emails between BCSO behavioral health manager Diane Dorsall and Sheriff John Allen raise questions about whether the calls were properly encrypted. According to Dosal's email, neither the deputy nor the dispatcher appeared to check the crisis intervention database before responding to the call. As for welfare checks, BCSO's standard operating procedures state that they are not required.
Lt. Amber Cordero and Lt. Oscar Alvarez-Ruiz shot and killed Jared after he came out of his home, had a knife put to his neck, and told officers to shoot him.
April 20, 2023: “It's time to change the culture,” Sheriff John Allen said at a news conference, introducing Diane Dorsall as the new manager of behavioral health and compliance. The South Valley has one of the highest numbers of mental and behavioral health calls in the metro, according to county statistics.
April 21, 2023: Deputy Cordero was questioned about the shooting and told investigators he remembered Jared. It was like he was going to take a step and charge towards us. ” Cordero's body camera video shows the knife not leaving his neck until Jared is shot and falls to his knees.
April 27, 2023: BCSO holds press conference regarding Jared shooting. Asked whether deputies knew Jared was suicidal, Allen said, “Maybe.” All I know is that he came out as a welfare check. I don't know what a welfare check means to you, but to me it's a little more common. So we need to make sure in our policies and procedures that that's exactly what we're trying to do. ”
February 13, 2024: Romero's family files a wrongful death lawsuit.
Elisha Lucero
Elisha Lucero was shot and killed by Bernalillo County deputies in July 2019.
Her family called BCSO to say she had beaten them and was suffering from a mental health crisis.
Deputies claimed Lucero lunged at them with a knife. In 2019, then-Sheriff Manny Gonzalez refused to equip his deputies with body cameras despite funding from county commissioners. The denial led to a new state law requiring most law enforcement departments to have body cameras.
Bernalillo County quickly settled the case for $4 million. No members of Congress faced criminal charges.
What happened now?
A multi-agency task force has completed its investigation into the lawmakers who shot and killed Jared. The report was sent to the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office for review and potential charges against the deputies. 4 Investigates filed an Inspection of Public Records Act seeking the full report.
Wrongful death lawsuits proceed through the civil court system.
