The family of a woman who died in DuPage County Jail due to alleged medical neglect while awaiting transfer to a mental health facility accepted an $11 million settlement.

Reneyda Aguilar-Hurtado, 50, was an inmate at DuPage County Jail in Wheaton. She was arrested March 19, 2023, on a misdemeanor battery charge. The charges stemmed from an incident in which she allegedly kicked another customer at a grocery store, which resulted in a small scratch on the side of the person’s calf, court documents stated.

She was found to be unfit for trial due to her history of psychosis and schizophrenia.

Aguilar-Hurtado was kept in custody for nearly three months, while she awaited transfer to a mental health facility to receive treatment.

During her time in jail, she exhibited signs and symptoms of psychiatric illness, and her condition worsened as time went on, documents stated.

The complaint alleged she lost 60 pounds in about 85 days. She routinely refused food and water. She was also regularly found with blood, vomit and feces on the ground of her cell. Aguilar-Hurtado was scheduled for a psychiatric evaluation on May 27, 2023, but refused the interview.

There were no other attempts to assess or treat her severe psychiatric illness, the complaint alleged.

She also underwent a health evaluation on May 30, 2023, for her weight loss and bloody vomit, but no treatment or intervention was provided aside from weekly weight checks.

In the days before her death, Aguilar-Hurtado was reportedly confused, weak, unable to stand on her own and needed a wheelchair to be moved around.

Documents stated she was reportedly easily agitated, hallucinating and having paranoid delusions, among other symptoms.

Her condition continued to worsen, eventually leading to severe malnutrition, dehydration and volume depletion that was causing kidney failure, the complaint stated.

Despite her condition, the complaint alleged that no efforts were made by anyone with the sheriff’s department to transfer her to a hospital for emergency care.

On June 12, 2023, Aguilar-Hurtado was found unresponsive in her cell and cold to the touch.

She was taken to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead.

The cause of death was multi-system organ failure due to malnutrition and dehydration as a result of medical neglect, documents stated.

Cristal Moreno Aguilar, her daughter and independent administrator of the estate, sued DuPage County and DuPage County Sheriff James

Mendrick in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois.

The complaint alleged violations of the Fourteenth Amendment related to denial of medical care and deliberate indifference, as well as state law claims for willful and wanton misconduct.

The parties reached an agreement on Feb. 13 through mediation with Janet Adams Brosnahan of ADR Systems, which was approved by U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah of the Northern District of Illinois.

The probate estate was opened in DuPage County Circuit Court, and the settlement was approved by the DuPage County probate court on May 22.

The estate is represented by Michael C. Mead, as well as Jeffrey J. Tallis, Nicholas J. Faklis and James N. Faklis of Faklis Tallis & Mead PC.

“Reneyda’s tragic death never should have happened,” Mead said. “It was preventable, and the loss that her family experienced cannot be made whole. We hope that the settlement provides justice and some closure for her family.”

DuPage County and Mendrick are represented by Mark Winistorfer of the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

 

By Grace Barbic gb*****@**************ia.com
Posted May 27, 2025 at 2:54 PM