$3.5 Million Settlement in Sacramento Jail Death

The family of a man who died from an overdose in a Sacramento County jail after being left unattended for hours have agreed to a $3.5 million settlement.

That man, David Kent Barefield Sr., 55, was dragged across a garage into the jail last May, not given a medical exam despite being visibly ill, handcuffed in a cart while awaiting booking and only offered medical aid in his final minutes, jail footage shows.

Mr. Barefield’s relatives described the neglect in a civil case filed last December against the county’s Sheriff’s Office, its health department and the City of Sacramento police. The settlement was confirmed by the family’s lawyer and by a county spokeswoman; a copy of the document shows it was signed on March 5. The case with the city is still pending.

The Sheriff’s Office investigated Mr. Barefield’s death and found that none of its employees violated any law or policy, according to a redacted report that was released to The New York Times and The Desert Sun on Thursday.

The details of Mr. Barefield’s last hours are captured in surveillance and body camera video obtained by The Times and The Sun through a records request. The organizations previously reported some of that information, citing accounts from lawyers and medical experts who investigated the death and six others in the county’s jails last year as part of a federal court monitoring program. The court had appointed those monitors in a class-action lawsuit related to broader complaints about medical care in the facilities.