Family of man who died in Monterey County Jail files a claim against the county.

When 33-year-old Jacob Parenti died on Jan. 15, he'd been coughing up thick, mucous-like blood for a few days. He wanted to see a doctor, his family says—but he couldn't.

Parenti was in custody at the Monterey County Jail, serving two years for a drug violation, plus an eight-month sentence for possession of stolen property. Parenti's mother, Susan, and 7-year-old son filed a claim against Monterey County on July 7, seeking at least $250,000 in connection to the death. 

Parenti had been diagnosed with skin cancer in early January, and after having cancerous cells removed from his face, developed flu-like symptoms from which he never recovered, according to the claim. Two medical request slips went unanswered, then on the morning of Jan. 15 a sheriff's deputy allegedly found Parenti unresponsive on his bunk. 

No medical attention was called, the claim states, until more than an hour later after other inmates noticed Parenti wasn't breathing and starting calling, "Man down." 

Sheriff Scott Miller did not return a call requesting comment on the claim, but in a prior interview with the Weekly, said the death wasn't due to bad medical care for the flu—it was, according to the coroner's report, a drug overdose. 

“He didn’t die from the flu,” Miller said. “I don’t know what the source of [the family's] information is. It seems most isn’t true.”

Parenti's sister, Amy Parenti, has joined a chorus voicing concerns with medical care at the Monterey County Jail. Last May, the Monterey County Public Defender’s Office and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against Monterey County, the jail and the jail’s contract medical provider, California Forensic Medical Group, alleging a number of preventable deaths and poor conditions. 

In an interview earlier this year with the Weekly, Amy described the flu-like symptoms and said, "My brother was not given a death sentence by the courts. This jail staff sentenced him to death.”