Officials at High Desert State Prison tried to cover up the circumstances surrounding the death of a 24-year-old inmate who was fatally beaten by guards last year, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges.

Malik Avila died Nov. 22 at MountainView Hospital in Las Vegas, after being airlifted from the Indian Springs correctional facility on Nov. 4, according to a 29-page complaint filed in Clark County District Court by Avila’s parents, Eileen Avila and Kareem Gray.

The lawsuit alleges guards entered Avila’s cell and beat him for suspected cellphone use. A guard punched Avila in the face, causing him to collapse and hit the right side of his head.

“A combination of punches to the face and the hit to his head while falling caused Malik to suffer a traumatic brain injury,” the complaint stated. “Prison guards continued to punch him in the face and body until he collapsed.”

Avila was serving a sentence of 10 years to life after being convicted of second-degree murder in connection to the 2018 killing of Joseph Jarrat in Dayton. Avila was 17 at the time of the crime.

According to the lawsuit, a prison nurse told 911 dispatchers that Avila was unconscious and convulsing. Avila was airlifted to the hospital, where doctors declared him brain-dead and placed him on life support. Avila remained there until his death 18 days later.

James Urrutia, an attorney representing Avila’s family, shared a recording of the 911 call. The nurse tells the 911 dispatcher that Avila possibly had a brain injury and that it was possibly drug-related.

A toxicology test taken at the hospital upon Avila’s admission returned negative for drugs, the complaint said.

“We suspect he was taking spice or something,” the nurse told the 911 dispatcher. Spice is used as a term for drugs made from synthetic cannabis compounds sold for recreational use. “He’s been seizing all day. So, probably a brain injury.”

The lawsuit names Warden Jeremy Bean, the Nevada Department of Corrections, and High Desert prison guards and medical staff as defendants. The suit alleges Avila’s injuries were caused by excessive force and that a failure to provide timely and appropriate medical care led to Avila’s death.

Urrutia said Monday the warden gave Avila’s family false and conflicting information about the incident. Bean and prison staff told Avila’s family that Avila had not been in an altercation, or that Avila might have “ingested a substance” prior to his death, according to the complaint.

The Clark County coroner’s office said Avila’s death was caused by a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain and cardiac arrest associated with tonic-clonic seizure. The coroner said Avila’s manner of death was determined to be natural.

Urrutia said the coroner’s office has not released Avila’s autopsy report.

‘We know he was beaten’

Urrutia said his team obtained a recording from a whistleblower that proves Avila was battered by guards.

“We know he was beaten,” Urrutia told reporters during a news conference outside the Regional Justice Center. “We know what his last words were: ‘Please stop.’”

Urrutia alleged prison staff gave Avila’s medical team false information, and that Avila’s next of kin were not notified about his hospitalization until Nov. 12, eight days after he was hospitalized.

“How can we expect our medical staff to provide proper care when they are being told lies from the prison,” Urrutia said. “It causes confusion with medical treatment, it causes confusion for the family. It causes extreme emotional duress and pain.”

The suit also accuses the Nevada Donor Network and employees Nayeli Rivera and another, identified only as Michael, of misleading Avila’s family about his status as an organ donor and pressuring the family into removing Avila from life support so his organs could be donated.

“Defendants knowingly exploited Plaintiffs’ grief, vulnerability, and unequal access to critical medical and organ-donation information during the final hours or days of Malik’s life,” the complaint said of the Nevada Donor Network and its employees. “They knew, or recklessly disregarded, that their representations and actions concerning Malik’s body and the proposed recovery of his organs would cause Plaintiffs profound fear, anguish, helplessness, and emotional trauma.”

A spokesperson for the Nevada Department of Corrections said it does not comment on pending litigation. The Nevada Donor Network did not respond to request for comment.

Plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial, according to the complaint. They are also seeking court orders requiring policy changes related to training, supervision and reporting related to offender medical care and use of force, and requiring independent examination of preservation of evidence for custodial deaths.

Several members of Avila’s family stood alongside Urrutia during Monday’s news conference and called for officials involved in Avila’s death to be held accountable. The suit seeks a jury trial.

Lucy Avila, Malik’s grandmother, said her family wants justice in her grandson’s death.

“We miss him,” she said. “Every single day, I think of him.”

A previous version of this story misstated Avila’s manner of death.

Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X.