PHOENIX — When Jacquelyn Serrano's son called her from the Maricopa County jail on Sept. 23, 2023, she didn't expect it to be the last time she'd talk to him.
Less than a week later, 27-year-old Joseph Serrano would be unconscious in a hospital bed and hooked up to a ventilator. He died on Sept. 28.
The Valley mother has spent the last six months trying to piece together the timeline of events that resulted in her son's untimely death and the details she's managed to uncover suggest Joseph's final moments were traumatic and humiliating.
"They treated my son like an animal," Serrano said in an interview with 12News.
Serrano has recently filed a notice of claim, a document served before a lawsuit, to Maricopa County seeking damages for how her son was treated while in the sheriff's office custody before his death.
12News has reported in the last year on multiple families caught up in the same predicament: a beloved family member dies while in custody of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the family is left with several questions and few answers.
But beyond seeking greater transparency from the sheriff's office surrounding Joseph's death, Serrano said she's decided to take legal action to ensure "this doesn't happen to anybody else."
A family needing help
The incident leading to Joseph's arrest began on Sept. 22 after Jacquelyn called Glendale police seeking help with resolving a disturbance involving her son.
Joseph had a history of drug abuse and was acting erratic as his mother was helping him move. At one point, Jacquelyn said her son broke a television set, so she called the police hoping they could help control the situation.
It's a scenario many families have likely encountered as thousands of Arizonans continue to struggle with substance abuse. In 2022, nearly 2,000 residents across the state succumbed to opioid-related deaths.
When Joseph was brought to the MCSO jail, he told intake staff he'd been taking fentanyl before his arrest, according to an MCSO report shared with 12News.
The presence of fentanyl in MCSO facilities has become a more prevalent issue in recent years. Former Sheriff Paul Penzone said at least 17 inmates died from drug-related incidents in 2022.
But the circumstances surrounding Serrano's passing can't fully be explained by just drug abuse, his family said.
On Sept. 25, jail staff made a radio call for "man down" after Serrano was observed appearing dizzy, dehydrated and going through "severe withdrawal," the MCSO report states.
His mother, Jacquelyn, said she was checking in with the jail since her son's arrest and had been told Joseph was fine.
In actuality, Joseph was being taken to a Valleywise hospital.
He was discharged two days later, however, a "paperwork miscommunication" between MCSO and the hospital resulted in Joseph getting scheduled for transport back to jail instead of the MCSO infirmary, according to the MCSO report.
During the discharge process, one of the officers claim Serrano became "irritated" before noticing the inmate had "defecated and urinated in his pants." The officer said they thought Serrano did it "purposefully" and the officers then placed a "spit mask" on his face, according to the MCSO report.
The inmate was brought out to the MCSO transport van slumped in a wheelchair and making "moaning" sounds. Officers told investigators that staff had to pick up Joseph and place him in the van.
Zaheer Shah, whose firm is representing the Serrano family in their legal claim, said staff appear to have treated Serrano in a "callous" nature that requires further investigation.
"I don't know if that callousness was brought on by the fact that he was being judged for being an opioid addict, or if he was being judged because of some other socio-economic factors," Shah said.
What happened after Serrano was put in that transport van remains a point of contention for his family.
'Unplugged' camera monitor?
The MCSO report on Serrano's death includes statements from the officers and other inmates who were in the van with Serrano during the drive back to jail.
The staff reported smelling feces and hearing banging, moaning sounds from the back but could not visually see the inmates because the surveillance cameras were not working that day. An investigator later noted that the van's monitor appeared to be "unplugged."
The other inmates recalled Serrano sitting on the van's floor and "flopping around like a fish."
By the time the van arrived at the jail, Serrano was passed out on the floor and an investigator later observed dried blood on his face. Staff dragged him out and moved at a "casual pace" before someone started performing CPR minutes later, according to the family's legal claim.
An ambulance transported Serrano to a Banner Health facility and a detective notified Serrano's mother that her son was in the hospital. Jacquelyn said she was warned to not try and visit the hospital. The MCSO report shows an officer reportedly told hospital staff not to allow visitors for the sick inmate due to "security reasons."
By the time Jacquelyn was permitted to see her son, she was shocked by his severe condition.
"He was on a ventilator. And his face and head were swollen. His eyelids wouldn't even shut," the mother said.
Jacquelyn posted the bond to release Joseph from the sheriff's office custody. Not long after his release, Joseph would be dead.
The MCSO report states Joseph died as the result of a "gastrointestinal bleed" from an ulcer and his manner of death was listed as "accidental."
But the law firm representing the Serrano family claim Joseph's body sustained trauma that is hard to explain based on what's known about the incident.
"There are a lot of things that remain unexplained," Shah said. "And one of the things that our firm is hopeful in doing is answering some of these mysteries and creating transparency where right now there's just a lot of cloudiness."
The MCSO report concluded no criminal offenses were committed resulting in Serrano's death, but Jacquelyn believes Joseph wasn't treated with the dignity someone in his condition should have received.
"Honestly, I don't know what happened in that jail...but I want answers," Serrano said.
MCSO declined a request for an interview about Serrano's case due to the pending litigation.