Yvonne De La Torre remembers her partner, Alejandro Campos Rios, as a kind and caring man who loved being a grandfather. "He was a very loving person. He had a very good heart," she said. Their nearly 30-year relationship came to a tragic end on March 6, 2024, outside a McDonald's in Fullerton, California, when Rios, a 50-year-old man with severe mental health challenges, was fatally injured during an encounter with police.
Rios was reportedly swinging a belt outside the restaurant when a manager called the police. Officers arrived and tased him before firing over six beanbag rounds. According to the Fullerton Police Department's 17-minute summary video, the rounds caused significant injuries that contributed to Rios' death shortly afterward.
"They killed him," De La Torre said, expressing her grief and frustration. Seeking answers, Rios' family filed a lawsuit, alleging excessive force and denial of medical care. Not trusting authorities to conduct a fair investigation, De La Torre sought help from the Know Your Rights Camp's Autopsy Initiative, which provides independent autopsies for families affected by police-related deaths. Nicole Martin, legal program director for the initiative, explained, "There's a lot of counties that have a sheriff-coroner's office, so then you essentially have police investigating police deaths."
Launched in 2023, KYRC's Autopsy Initiative provides free secondary independent autopsies for families and loved ones of individuals who died in custody or in incidents involving officers. Since its inception, the initiative has conducted over 100 autopsies.
An independent pathologist confirmed that three beanbag rounds struck Rios—two in the forearm and one in the chest. The Orange County coroner's official report is still pending, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Martin said the initiative's goal is to identify discrepancies between independent and official autopsies. "We're looking to see, are there any discrepancies? What protocols were done from the first autopsy, what wasn't done?"
Despite body camera footage showing officers acknowledging that Rios was in crisis, they did not call the county's Mobile Crisis Assessment Team, which handles mental health crises. "They didn't know how to handle this situation," De La Torre said. "That's what cost him his life." Reflecting on Rios' death, she added, "I would like for them to know and admit that they did wrong and that they need to change. He just needed help."
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