Man’s death in February followed fall from bunkbed in Vista jail

A 46-year-old man who died nearly two weeks after he was found disoriented in a Vista jail cell in February had fallen from the top bunk and sustained a head injury, sheriff’s officials said Friday.

The Medical Examiner’s Office has classified the Feb. 27 death of James Pittman as an accident, Sheriff’s homicide Lt. Juan Márquez said in a news release. As is protocol, the homicide unit investigates all in-custody deaths.

The Medical Examiner’s Office determined Pittman’s death was caused by blunt force trauma to his head, the sheriff’s lieutenant said.  

According to Márquez, the investigation revealed that Pittman had fallen from the top bunk when he and a cellmate were confined in their cell at the Vista Detention Facility on Feb. 14. The initial news release the department issued following Pittman’s death had not mentioned a fall, only that Pittman’s cellmate had found him in medical distress.

Márquez said Friday that the cellmate heard the fall and found Pittman unconscious on the floor. He called for deputies, who Márquez said immediately arrived and found Pittman “disoriented and confused.”

They took Pittman to the jail’s medical clinic, and paramedics then took him to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. He underwent a medical procedure, and was then admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit, Márquez said.

Pittman remained in intensive care until he died, Márquez said.

Pittman, an Oceanside resident, had been in custody since Jan. 3, 2023, following his arrest on suspicion of murder.