Photo by Nardine Saad.

Now the family alleges abuse and potentially homicide, citing findings of severe bodily trauma in his autopsy.

The initial coverup among the guards was outed when an internal investigation revealed that officers on that floor had been falsifying monitoring logs.

After Horton's death, the American Civil Liberties Union which monitors the jail, released a letter by a neighboring inmate which documented the guards' psychological torture. 

A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office, which operates the facility, expressed regret for Horton's death, but stands by the coroner's report of suicide.

The ACLU along with LA Country Sheriff Lee Baca have called for the facility to be closed multiple times, claiming it is overcrowded and unsafe for inmates and guards.

Reach Tom Dotan here