ICE Detainee Lost Eye at Pahrump Facility After Medication Denials, Lawsuit Claims

Jose Braulio Sedano Navarro warned CoreCivic staff the moment he arrived: without his antipsychotic injection, he would hallucinate and lose control. Nine weeks later, he was blind in one eye.

A civil complaint filed Feb. 26 in Clark County's Eighth Judicial District Court alleges that Navarro, 31, was placed in ICE custody at the Nevada Southern Detention Center in the Pahrump area in early June 2025 and immediately requested his antipsychotic medication. Staff at the facility, operated by private corrections contractor CoreCivic, allegedly failed to administer the injection for weeks. Court documents describe Navarro beginning to see demons, hear voices, and fearing he would "go crazy on somebody."

On July 20, 2025, staff placed Navarro in segregation without documented completion of a mental-health check, according to the complaint. He attempted to hang himself with a laundry bag string on August 3. Court records indicate that while on suicide watch following that attempt, he tried to dig out his own eye and exhibited escalating self-mutilation behavior. The following day, Dr. Steven Berger, named as a defendant in the lawsuit, evaluated Navarro but did not send him to the hospital. Instead, Berger prescribed medication and scheduled a follow-up appointment for the following month.

In the early hours of August 5, Navarro gouged out his right eye. "In the early morning hours of August 5, 2025, after weeks of untreated psychosis and repeated warnings, Plaintiff gouged out his own right eye while under CoreCivic's direct supervision, control, and custody," the complaint states. "Only then did staff summon emergency medical care."

Navarro was transported to University Medical Center in Las Vegas that same day, where clinicians diagnosed a ruptured globe and confirmed schizophrenia. His attorneys state he is now permanently blind in his right eye and "lives with disfigurement, chronic psychological trauma, and ongoing psychiatric instability." In addition to CoreCivic and Dr. Berger, two NSDC medical staffers are listed as defendants, though their names were not included in court documents reviewed for this report.

The lawsuit alleges negligence, medical malpractice, and infliction of emotional distress, and seeks both compensatory and punitive damages. Attorney Thomas Beckom, representing Navarro, framed the case in terms of basic custodial duty. "Regardless of somebody's past, detention facilities still have a responsibility to find adequate medical care and then protect people in their custody from foreseeable harm," Beckom said.

CoreCivic spokesperson Brian Todd told The Nevada Independent that the company adheres to all applicable federal standards and that the facility's clinic is staffed with licensed, credentialed doctors and mental health professionals who "meet the highest standards of care." Todd added that all detainees have daily access to sign up for medical and mental health services. CoreCivic did not respond to separate messages seeking comment on the specific allegations. Neither Dr. Berger nor ICE responded to requests for comment.

The Nevada Southern Detention Center held 460 ICE detainees as of February 2026. A September 2024 inspection had already identified deficiencies at the facility in the categories of self-harm and suicide prevention and medical care. The facility has faced multiple wrongful death lawsuits in recent years tied to allegations of inadequate mental health treatment for detainees.