Family of Marin County Woman Briefly Held in Jail Intends to File Wrongful Death Lawsuit
The family of Tammy Annette Manzanilla, a woman who died after recently being held in the Marin County Jail, said they’re proceeding with a wrongful death lawsuit against the county.
“The lawsuit will be filed,” said Manzanilla’s sister Amy Barry of Oakhurst, addressing the county’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “You’ll be hearing a lot from me.”
Barry isn’t hopeful she’ll hear back from the county’s counsel, who she said has not addressed the tort claim — a precursor to a lawsuit — that an attorney filed on behalf of her family in July.
On April 8, the Central Marin Police Authority arrested Manzanilla and booked her into the Marin County Jail. Her family claimed she was held for 19 hours in a sobering cell while jail staff ignored her worsening health condition and only released her to a nearby hospital to avoid the public reporting and accountability that comes following an in-custody death.
“Because they quickly released her, technically, she was not in their custody,” Barry said in an interview with KQED.
Manzanilla was in her mid-50s when she died. Her family said she struggled with addiction and had been homeless in Marin County for the last 15 years.
Barry believes that the sheriff’s office chose to cite and release Manzanilla to a hospital only after they realized she was dying to avoid having to classify it as an in-custody death.
In California, law enforcement agencies have to disclose certain information about in-custody deaths, such as the time and place of the incident and the person’s age and race. (For example, Marin County did that for an in-custody death of a 66-year-old white man on June 12, but not in Manzanilla’s case.)
Barry was joined at the meeting by family members whose loved ones died under similar circumstances in Bay Area jails and interactions with law enforcement agencies. They say they’re “part of the club that no one wants to be a part of” as they seek justice for their families.
“What happened to Tammy is similar in so many ways because basic respect and basic policies were not followed,” said Robert Collins, the father of Angelo Quinto, who was killed by Antioch police in December 2020, during the news conference outside the jail on Tuesday.
In Quinto’s case, officers responded to a mental health call and knelt on Quinto’s neck for nearly five minutes, according to a civil rights lawsuit his family filed after his death. Quinto died at a hospital three days later.
Antioch did not make a public statement following Quinto’s death, as required by state law for in-custody deaths. The city of Antioch settled the Quinto family’s lawsuit for $7.5 million in 2024.
Marin County has not publicly released any information regarding Manzanilla’s death.
Responding to a request from KQED, Roger Fielding, chief deputy of Marin County’s coroner division, said the county’s counsel would review what could be shared publicly “due to the sensitive nature of this death investigation.”
According to a redacted incident report obtained by KQED, Manzanilla was booked into the Marin County Jail at 1:30 p.m. on April 8 on suspicion of public intoxication and other misdemeanors.
Deputy Keira Oliver noted in her report that the inmate — whom the family said is Manzanilla — was “very intoxicated” and placed into a cell for observation where she “had been yelling and making nonsensical statements.”
The next day at 8:15 a.m., Oliver and Deputy Taylor Del Santo got Manzanilla out of her cell. According to the report, she was able to walk out of the cell on her own, but soon had difficulty standing on her own during the fingerprinting and mugshot process. Deputies noted she “dropped her weight and fell to the floor” and needed a wheelchair.
Within 15 minutes, a nurse checked Manzanilla’s eyes and indicated that she needed medical attention, according to the report. It goes on to show that deputies placed her on the ground on her side and gave her oxygen while waiting for the fire department to respond and address her medical issues.
“She was sitting in that jail cell, dying,” Barry said. “There was a cascade of events occurring inside of her body that there was no coming back from. It was that point of no return by the time she got to the hospital.”
The report states that Manzanilla was cited and released to MarinHealth Medical Center in Greenbrae at 8:30 a.m. on April 9. Her family said that Manzanilla died on April 11 after her liver and her kidneys shut down.
Court records show that the Marin County District Attorney’s Office filed charges of disorderly conduct, possession of drug paraphernalia and probation violation against Manzanilla four days after she died. A judge dismissed her case on May 1.
Like most of California’s counties, Marin County’s elected sheriff is also its coroner. This system has been under scrutiny for years, especially with in-custody or officer-involved deaths, as the sheriff operates the jails and then oversees investigations into those deaths.
“In this case, Marin County did the investigation, which is definitely a conflict of interest, because I don’t feel like they’re doing an honest job,” Barry said. “They can say whatever. They said her death was accidental.”
County leaders have previously offered condolences to the family but have said they won’t comment on anticipated litigation.
“I just want them to say, ‘Hey, yeah, we screwed up. We really screwed up, and we’re going to make the changes so that this doesn’t happen anymore,’” Barry said.
Angel Miniachi, Manzanilla’s son, said he plans to bury his mother’s ashes so she can grow into a blossom tree, as she told him years ago that’s what she wanted.
“I’m gonna make that happen for her,” he said.