McKenzie Scott Files Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Following Death of 34-Year-Old Ben Cunningham in San Diego County Jail

Firm That Secured Historic $16 Million Settlement in Hayden Schuck Case Returns to Court; Calls for Systemic Reform After Pattern of In-Custody Deaths

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES, March 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- McKenzie Scott PC, a San Diego civil rights and criminal defense law firm, announced today the filing of a federal civil rights lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California (casd-3:2026-cv-01185). The suit was filed on behalf of the Estate of Ben Cunningham and his surviving family members following his death while in custody at a San Diego County jail facility.

The lawsuit, filed on February 24, 2026, alleges that Mr. Cunningham died as a direct result of systemic failures, deliberate indifference, and constitutional violations by San Diego County Sheriff's Department personnel. According to the complaint, Mr. Cunningham sustained fatal injuries after falling from a top bunk, despite reporting conditions upon intake that should have required him to be housed in a bottom bunk. Medical staff subsequently failed to provide timely and adequate treatment for his life-threatening injuries.

"Ben Cunningham's death, like so many others in San Diego County jails,was entirely preventable," said San Diego civil rights attorney Tim Scott, counsel for the Cunningham family.

"This case exposes the same dangerous patterns we've seen time and again in San Diego County jails: inadequate medical care, failure to follow basic safety protocols, poor communication between staff, and a culture that allows people in custody to suffer and die unnecessarily.. It’s tragic and totally unacceptable."

The Cunningham case represents yet another tragic chapter in San Diego County's well-documented crisis of in-custody deaths. Between 2006 and 2020, there were 185 deaths within the San Diego County jail system, a rate that exceeded all of California's other large counties during the same period. 19 in-custody deaths occurred in the county in 2022 alone, with another six deaths in 2023.

A scathing 2022 California State Auditor report documented systemic deficiencies in the San Diego County jail system, including inadequate safety checks, delays in medical treatment, communication failures between medical and sworn staff, and failure to properly house detainees based on their medical needs.

McKenzie Scott PC has been at the forefront of holding San Diego County accountable for jail deaths. In 2025, the firm secured a historic $16 million settlement for the family of William Hayden Schuck, a 22-year-old man who died in San Diego Central Jail in March 2022 from dehydration and drug toxicity after being forgotten in a cell for days.

The Schuck settlement, the largest wrongful death settlement in San Diego County history, came after the County destroyed 55 hours of surveillance footage from outside Schuck's cell. A federal judge sanctioned the County and ruled that if the case had gone to trial, jurors could be instructed to assume the deleted footage would have reflected badly on the County.

According to the federal complaint, the failures that led to Ben Cunningham's death include:

*Improper Housing: Mr. Cunningham reported conditions upon intake, including inebriation, that made top bunk placement medically dangerous. Jail staff failed to ensure he was housed in a bottom bunk despite knowing the risks associated with detainees falling from top bunks.
*Inadequate Supervision: Mr. Cunningham was not properly monitored or treated for serious conditions he reported upon intake, and was housed with a potentially dangerous detainee instead of being placed in protective custody.
*Failure to Provide Medical Care: After Mr. Cunningham fell from the top bunk and was found unresponsive, medical staff failed to properly assess his traumatic injuries. Staff failed to properly assess his injuries, inaccurately documented that he had not lost consciousness (despite Mr. Cunningham reporting he lost consciousness), and failed to send him to the emergency room.
*Systemic Constitutional Deprivations: The complaint alleges these failures are part of a long-standing pattern of inadequate supervision, record-keeping and communication failures between medical and sworn staff, failure to provide adequate medical care and follow-up, and failure to ensure detainees are properly housed based on medical necessity.

The federal lawsuit seeks damages for Mr. Cunningham's pain, suffering, and wrongful death, as well as systemic reforms to prevent future deaths. Plaintiffs include the Estate of Ben Cunningham, two minor children (proceeding by pseudonyms for their privacy), and Mr. Cunningham's mother, Pamela Cunningham Solano.

A parallel state court case was filed in March 2025 in San Diego Superior Court.

Jason Kitchen
McKenzie Scott PC
+1 517-974-4724
jkitchen@mckenziescott.com
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