Woman dies after falling ill at Bernalillo County jail, family says she had been sick for days

Officials say a woman died at an Albuquerque hospital last weekend after falling ill while behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

An attorney told the Journal that other inmates said Violet Denetso had been complaining of stomach pain for days and was getting no help. Her sister said doctors told them Denetso had an infection from a ruptured intestine and died after a trio of heart attacks.

The 44-year-old mother of three was pronounced dead Saturday night, 12 hours after being brought to the hospital from MDC.

The jail announced the death on Tuesday.

“The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator will determine the official cause of death,” MDC spokesman Daniel Trujillo said in an email. MDC’s Office of Professional Standards and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the death.

Denetso is the 32nd person to die at MDC or die after being injured or falling ill at the facility since 2020. The majority of those who have died were detoxing at the time.

Trujillo did not answer several questions on the allegations made by Denetso’s family and attorney Katherine Loewe, who represents incarcerated people in MDC’s reform settlement.

Trujillo said, “For MDC’s part, the incident is under review by the Office of Professional Standards, as is standard procedure.”

Loewe said other inmates reported Denetso complained of pain for several days and, somewhere in between, that she was cleared by MDC’s medical staff and sent back to her cell.

“She continued to ask for help ... and what we’ve been told is that she was in such distress that she attempted self-harm to get medical help,” Loewe said. “If this is accurate in any way, this is tremendously concerning.”

Trujillo said a medical code was called around 7:15 a.m. on Saturday “after Denetso reported experiencing severe stomach pain.”

“The inmate was moved to medical housing for direct observation and care,” he said. Trujillo said around 10:45 a.m., Denetso was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she died 12 hours later.

Vivian Denetso Lucero said her sister called from MDC the weekend before Christmas to say she had been jumped in jail. She said Denetso told them she had “excruciating pain” in her stomach, but MDC staff wouldn’t see her and thought “she was on drugs.”

“She was like that for a week and a half before they even took her to the hospital,” Denetso Lucero said. Denetso Lucero said doctors told them the intestines may have ruptured from a physical blow.

“She was so outspoken, she was full of life. She didn’t deserve this at all,” she said.

Denetso Lucero said her sister, who lived on the streets, spent Thanksgiving with her family and children, making her “specialty” yams and frybread. That was the last time they saw Denetso.

“My aunties were the ones that helped me tell the kids that she’s not coming home, that she passed. They’re really heartbroken,” Denetso Lucero said.

An Albuquerque officer was “engaged in proactive patrol activities” on Dec. 12 when he spotted Denetso holding drug paraphernalia on East Central, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Denetso fled on a bike, throwing a spoon with a piece of heroin the size of a “BB pellet” on it.

Police said the officer chased Denetso until she fell and scraped her head on the gravel. The officer called paramedics to assess Denetso’s injury and she declined needing further treatment.

The officer called for a police supervisor due to Denetso being injured and Internal Affairs was called to investigate.

“Per protocol, I completed a use of force narrative ... documenting the details of the encounter,” according to the complaint.

Denetso’s arrest came as Albuquerque police vowed to tackle open-air drug use along East Central with felony arrests, whereas previously many were cited for a misdemeanor. “In a way, I hope that it puts a little strain on the system,” Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said of the initiative. “I think the system needs to feel a little bit of strain on how we’re going to get them the resources they need.”

Denetso’s previous arrest, in August, also came at the hands of a proactive APD patrol. In that case, police sweeping a homeless encampment found Denetso, alleging she had a warrant for her arrest.

The case was dismissed a month later, according to court records, because “the complaint and/or citation is unsigned or insufficient.”