The minor children of Melvin Ariel Calero Mendoza — a 39-year-old Nicaraguan asylum seeker — has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a detention center in Aurora and its medical director in connection with his 2022 death.
In addition to The Geo Group, the lawsuit also named Dr. Cary Walker, the facility’s medical director, who was the sole physician working when Mendoza died.
The lawsuit alleges that Mendoza died because Geo and Walker “failed to diagnose and treat a blood clot in his leg.”
“Melvin’s death was entirely preventable,” the family’s attorneys said in the complaint.
Attorneys for Novo Legal Group, which brought the lawsuit, allege that in the weeks leading up to Mendoza’s death, he had sought care on at least three occasions for “unbearable pain” in his right leg.
“Each time, defendants failed to triage him appropriately, refer him to an appropriate medical provider for care, or correctly diagnose his medical concerns,” the complaint said. “Instead, defendants tasked entry-level nurses to diagnose and treat Melvin without supervision, and outside the scope of their nursing licenses.”