Alamogordo, NM – May 15, 2026
Otero County and the Otero County Detention Center (OCDC) are once again the target of a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging systemic failures in monitoring and caring for a severely mentally ill inmate who attempted suicide while in custody — the latest in a string of legal challenges highlighting ongoing problems at the facility.
The complaint, filed April 29, 2026, in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico (Case No. 2:26-cv-01338-GBW-JHR), was brought by Ann Marie Culp as parent and next friend of Naomi Laycock, an Otero County resident. It accuses the Otero County Board of County Commissioners, former OCDC Director Nena Sisler, detention officer Ruben Garza, VitalCore Health Strategies behavioral health provider Martin Cook, and the contracted healthcare company of deliberate indifference to Laycock’s serious medical and mental health needs in violation of her Fourteenth Amendment rights.
According to the detailed 20-page filing, Laycock arrived at OCDC on June 3, 2025, after transfer from Doña Ana County Detention Center. Court documents state she came with extensive red flags: a documented history of schizophrenia, auditory and visual hallucinations, more than ten prior suicide attempts, and a recent hanging attempt on May 12, 2025, at the previous facility. Transfer paperwork explicitly warned “Caution: SUICIDE,” and a physician had ordered strict suicide precautions.
Despite this, the lawsuit alleges Laycock was cleared from heightened observation by Cook, placed first in general population and later in Administrative Segregation (as punishment for a mental health outburst), and left in a cell with bedding and towels that could be used for self-harm. Welfare checks were allegedly inconsistent, with gaps stretching from 58 minutes to nearly four hours in the critical hours before her attempt.
Surveillance video cited in the complaint allegedly shows Laycock on June 9–10, 2025, pacing erratically, talking to an imaginary person, punching the air, and repeatedly wrapping a towel and blanket around her neck. Officer Garza is accused of opening her food port to “air out” the cell after she complained it was stuffy, then walking away without a safety assessment. Shortly afterward, Laycock allegedly tied a towel around her neck and a handrail behind a partition.
Garza later returned, saw her legs twitching from behind the partition, and called for backup. By the time officers and nurses entered, Laycock was unresponsive, blue, and without a pulse. Nurses performed CPR for several minutes until her pulse returned. She had been without oxygen to her brain for at least four minutes — possibly longer — and was rushed by ambulance to Christus Southern New Mexico, then airlifted to University Medical Center in El Paso. She remained unresponsive for days and, according to the complaint, suffered extensive, permanent brain damage that persists to this day.
The lawsuit brings two main counts:
Count I – Fourteenth Amendment violation of the right to humane conditions of confinement and adequate medical care, alleging deliberate indifference by Sisler, Garza, and Cook.
Count II – Municipal liability against the Otero County Board of Commissioners and Sisler (in her official capacity) for an unconstitutional policy and practice of failing to monitor obviously suicidal inmates.
Critically, the complaint references a prior federal lawsuit filed exactly one year earlier — Gutierrez v. Otero County Board of County Commissioners (Case No. 2:24-cv-00555-GJF-KRS, filed June 3, 2024). That case involved the suicide death of Jacob Gutierrez, another inmate who allegedly was not properly monitored despite repeated suicide attempts. The filing notes that by the time Naomi Laycock arrived at OCDC in June 2025, county officials and Sisler had already been defending the earlier case for a full year.
Care at OCDC has also become a key issue in the ongoing Otero County Sheriff’s race. During the Voices of Alamogordo candidate forum hosted by Alamogordo Town News on May 5, 2026, candidates Cesar Ramos and Geraldine Yazza Martinez both addressed the need for significant improvements.
Ramos emphasized that more training and certification are necessary. He pledged to seek direct oversight of the detention facility and, if possible, deputize staff to ensure better accountability and professional standards.
Martinez stressed that reform and enhanced training are essential, noting that proper care and training are critical to ensuring the safety of both staff and inmates.
Both candidates agreed there is no excuse for a lack of training, accountability, and oversight, warning that the county can ill afford to continue on its current path and face mounting litigation payouts.
Otero County officials have not yet filed a formal response in the new case. All allegations remain unproven in court, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
Alamogordo Town News will continue monitoring both this case and any developments in the ongoing Gutierrez matter as they proceed through federal court.
Court documents are publicly available via the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
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