On April 14, 2016, plaintiffs’ decedent Erika Rocha, 35, a prisoner, committed suicide by hanging herself with a bedsheet tied to an air vent inside her jail cell. She died one day before she was to appear before a parole board hearing, at which time she was expected to be granted freedom. Rocha’s adult sisters, Geraldine Rocha and Freida Rocha, acting as Erika Rocha’s successors in interest, and Erika Rocha’s stepmother, Linda Reza, sued the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the warden, Kimberly Hughes; mental health clinicians Jim Elliot, Paloma Velez and Matthew Pulling; and several staff members from the department of corrections, Scott Kernan, Diana Toche, Kelly Harrington, Kathleen Allison, Katherine Tebrock and D. Jaimez. The lawsuit alleged that the prison’s staff was negligent in its supervision of Erika Rocha. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the defendants were aware that Rocha had attempted suicide eight times between the ages of 7 and 14 and that the defendants’ knew of her change in behavior prior to her suicide. Counsel also contended that the defendants failed to properly assess and monitor Rocha, noting that Rocha was not checked on in her cell prior to her death, as required by prison policy. Defense counsel denied that the defendants had prior knowledge that Rocha was in “substantial danger” of killing herself and/or that the defendants deliberately ignored that risk., Rocha committed suicide and died from asphyxiation on April 14, 2016. She was 35 years old. She was survived by her adult sisters and her stepmother. Rocha’s family sought recovery of wrongful death damages.