The family of a man fatally stabbed by a violent felon who was mistakenly placed with low-risk inmates in a Banning jail is suing the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department alleging wrongful death and negligence.

Steve De Leon Gonzalez, 36, of Moreno Valley, was at the Inmate Training and Education Bureau, also known as SITE-B, at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility when he was fatally stabbed by inmate Scott Lowder on Sept. 5, 2024, according to the lawsuit, filed on Aug. 29 in U.S. District Court in Riverside. The lawsuit also names as defendants Lowder, Sheriff Chad Bianco and several of his command staff.

Lowder, 55, had a 35-year violent criminal history and was in custody for allegedly brandishing a firearm and making criminal threats when he was mistakenly classified as a medi

See Full Page