Steven Curren Dies in the Custody of California’s San Diego Jail
In news out of San Diego, California, an inmate died after being found unconscious in the San Diego Central Jail on August 30, 2025.
According to the San Diego Sheriff’s Office, 35-year-old Steven Curren was arrested on suspicion of theft and possession of stolen property. He was then booked into the city’s Front Street detention center on August 29, 2025. The next day, a little after 3 p.m., several of Mr. Curren’s fellow inmates notified deputies that he was experiencing serious physical distress.
Deputies responded and found Mr. Curren unresponsive in his cell at the San Diego Central Jail. Jailers called emergency medical services (EMS) and began lifesaving measures. Paramedics continued their efforts to revive Mr. Cullen and transported him to a local hospital. Steven Curren was pronounced deceased a short time later on August 30, 2025.
A ruling on Mr. Curren’s cause of death is pending. However, in further news, Mr. Curren fell ill at the jail, which was allegedly the reason for the serious physical distress he experienced.
The address of San Diego County Jail is 1173 Front St, San Diego, California 92101. The jail’s inmate capacity is 946.
Protesters Demand Greater Transparency from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department.
Four days after the August 30, 2025, death of 35-year-old Steven Curren, protestors gathered outside the San Diego Central Jail. Mr. Curren is at least the eighth inmate to die in the Front Street jail in 2025. There were nine custodial deaths last year. Since it is only September, there is concern that the total number of inmate deaths will be even greater by the year’s end.
California doesn’t require county jails in the state to make public announcements that include the names of the individuals who die in their custody or other details. The names of six of the eight detainees who died in San Diego Central Jail have never been released.
The San Diego Sheriff’s Department revealed that about half of the inmates who died were in hospitals rather than in jail at their time of death. Those inmates required a higher level of medical care than what is available in the jail infirmary. A lieutenant with the Sheriff’s office stated that they do not comment on active investigations.
But what about the other deaths? Suicide is the leading cause of death in municipal and county jails in the U.S. Tragically, it is possible that several of the deaths were suicides.
Lester Daniel Marroquin Dies by Suicide in San Diego’s Downtown Central Jail
On December 18, 2020, Lester Daniel Marroquin was booked into the San Diego Central Jail. Mr. Marroquin’s mother, Alba Marroquin de Portillo, says that her son was suffering from a mental health crisis that worsened during his incarceration, and jail guards knew about it.
Ms. de Portillo says that Daniel made repeated suicide attempts in the San Diego County Jail.
On May 30, 2021, 35-year-old Daniel Marroquin was discovered unresponsive in his single-occupancy cell. Despite lifesaving measures, he was pronounced deceased in jail that day. His mother said that, according to autopsy results, he died from excessive water intake. It is somewhat common in the U.S. for inmates going through a mental health crisis to die from water intoxication, which is also known as hyponatremia.
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