On Monday, a preliminary hearing began in the East County courthouse for Danalee Pascua, a nurse, and Friedericke Von Lintig. M.D., who have both been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the death of Elisa Serna, who fell ill and later died at the jail in Santee.
Elisa, 24, died at the Las Colinas Detention Center and Re-Entry Facility in Santee in November 2019. Serna was one of 16 people who died in custody in San Diego jails in 2019.
Both Pascua and Von Lintig have pleaded not guilty.
Amid chants of "Justice for Elisa Serna," Michael Serna, along with other family members, friends and activists gathered outside the El Cajon courthouse on Monday morning to call for justice.
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Elisa hit her head on the wall at the Las Colinas Detention facility, after suffering a seizure and collapsing in her cell, according to prosecutors. The sheriff's department, however, maintains that said she died from complications of drug abuse, with a contributing factor of early intra-uterine pregnancy.
An independent investigation found that Elisa was left alone after the fall; she was discovered dead an hour later.
"We want to see justice," Michael said outside court. "We want to see people charged. We want to see people feel sorry for what they've done."
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In court on Monday
In court on Monday, Sheriff's Lt. Tonya Benjamin, who was the watch commander at Las Colinas on the night Serna died, took the stand. Benjamin told the court that within 10 minutes of starting her shift at 8 p.m., a call came in requesting extra deputies in cell No. 5 of the medical unit.
Benjamin testified that she got to the cell within 15-20 seconds, where she saw Pascua and Cpl. Paul Bennett performing CPR on Serna.
“She was nonresponsive," Benjamin told the court. "Her skin was a bluish-gray color. She didn’t respond to CPR.”
Benjamin also testified that rigor mortis had already set in, indicating she was already dead.
The family of Elisa Serna was also in court Monday. A lot of the evidence hinges on jail video that will be shown in court, but since Judge Selena Epley will not allow cameras in the court, those videos will not be seen by the public. However Elisa's mother, Paloma Serna, has seen the videos.
“I don’t understand why the public is not being allowed to view what we’re seeing. I mean they’re gonna be showing video evidence and that’s what we need," said Paloma Serna.
"There’s four different stories that we heard of how Elisa Serna died and we need the public to see what we’re seeing,” Paloma Serna said.
Those videos will be shown in upcoming days as this preliminary hearing continues. Then the judge will decide if there’s enough evidence to hold the two medical staffers to trial.
"Here in California they do not have a death penalty, so then why are these people that are not even convicted of a crime yet, they’re just charged, but they’re petty. I mean Elisa Serna was in there for petty theft and for her to be neglected the way she did, I mean its ridiculous," Paloma Serna added.
Serna’s family has a pending civil lawsuit filed against the sheriff’s department, so this won't be the last of this case.
Court dates rescheduled
Von Lintig had a preliminary hearing scheduled in March that was postponed three months due to a necessary witness not being available.
“Today was actually a big day," Serna's mother, Paloma, said in March. "I think it has been delayed already and pushed back about three, four, or five times. So, the preliminary hearing is a very important to hear, not only for our family but for the other impacted families plus for the community to know and see the truth."
The Serna family said at the time that they wanted the wheels of justice to move more quickly because they believed the trial would reveal evidence that supports their allegations.
“The video evidence will show the public how my daughter Elisa was neglected and what caused her death,” Paloma said in March.
Paloma hopes her daughter's case is the last she will be speaking out about.
"We need justice for all families and it’s sad to say, even for maybe future deaths," Paloma said.
Next steps
Family members told NBC 7 they would be in the courtroom throughout the preliminary hearing, which is expected to last all week. After its conclusion, the judge will determine if there is enough evidence for the pair to stand trial.
