Los Angeles County records show 10 deaths associated with Twin Towers Correctional Facility in 2026. A separate watchdog report identified problems with the quality of required safety checks in county jails.
Ten people died in 2026 after an illness or injury began while they were at Los Angeles County’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility. Five of those records carry the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Hispanic classification.
The deaths raise questions about the care and supervision people receive while in county custody. A report from the county’s Office of Inspector General has documented shortcomings in how jail staff conduct and review required safety checks.
The Sheriff’s Department’s public in-custody death records list 10 deaths in 2026 with Twin Towers identified as the facility where the illness or injury began. The records classify five people as Hispanic, three as White and two as Black.
The department’s ethnicity questionnaire defines Hispanic/Latino as people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin. Separate LASD training material identifies the letter code “H” as Hispanic.
The records make the demographic breakdown clear: Hispanic classifications account for half of the 10 deaths in this group.
A watchdog found problems with jail safety checks
People held in jail depend on staff to notice when they are in medical distress, follow required observation procedures and respond when something is wrong. Safety checks are one part of that responsibility.
In an August 2026 report, the county’s Office of Inspector General examined a sample of Title 15 safety checks at Men’s Central Jail and Twin Towers Correctional Facility. The review identified concerns about whether checks were completed on time and whether staff adequately observed the people they were assigned to monitor.
Across a review of 253 in-custody deaths from 2020 through 2025, the watchdog raised concerns about the quality or timing of safety checks in approximately 40% of the cases. That finding covered county jails and was not limited to Twin Towers.
The report also documented differences between auditors’ assessments of individual checks.
In one review of five safety-check audits at Twin Towers’ Module 242 B pod in January 2026, the Inspector General agreed that all five checks had been timely. But the office judged only three to be sufficient in quality, while department auditors had rated all five adequate.
That difference is key because a check can occur on schedule without necessarily meeting the standard for adequately observing a person in custody.
The report recommended changes to improve oversight and consistency, including stronger audit practices, clearer accountability for deficient checks, additional scanner barcodes and procedures to help staff make meaningful observations. It also discussed staggered checks and real-time camera monitoring.
The findings document weaknesses in safety-check practices. They do not, by themselves, establish that a particular check caused any of the deaths.
Read the Office of Inspector General’s report on jail safety checks.
Daniel Magaña’s death puts care and monitoring in focus
One of the people who died was Daniel Magaña, 40, whose death was recorded on September 5, 2026. The Sheriff’s Department’s records list Twin Towers as the facility where his illness or injury began and a hospital as the place of death.
Magaña’s family has alleged that he did not receive adequate mental-health evaluation, monitoring, medication or treatment. Those claims should be attributed to the family and assessed through the relevant legal and investigative records.
His case brings the questions of medical care and supervision into focus alongside the broader record of safety-check oversight. The Inspector General’s findings concern the systems meant to monitor people in custody; the family’s allegations concern the care Magaña received.
This is an issue we have lookedat in the past about county’s oversight responsibilities in “LA County Jail Safety Checks: Who Is Watching When Supervisors Aren’t?”.
The county’s responsibility is not limited to having safety-check rules on paper. Staff must carry them out, supervisors must assess whether they are being followed, and audits must distinguish a check that was merely recorded from one that adequately observed a person.
The Inspector General’s report gives county officials specific areas to address: the quality of checks, the consistency of audits, staff accountability and the use of monitoring tools.
With 10 deaths recorded in the Twin Towers group and five classified as Hispanic, the public record puts both the human toll and the department’s oversight practices in view. The watchdog’s findings offer a concrete standard against which county officials can be asked to demonstrate whether required safety procedures are being carried out effectively.
