Angelo Quinto

On December 23, 2020, Angelo Quinto’s sister dialed 911 because the 30-year-old Filipino American was suffering a mental health crisis at the family home and needed help. A responding officer with the Antioch Police Department knelt on Quinto’s neck for nearly five minutes while another officer restrained his legs, the family said. Quinto’s mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins, reported she had been hugging her son and he was calm by the time officers arrived. “He said ‘Please don’t kill me’,” as they were putting him on the ground. Quinto lost consciousness and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died three days later.

In September 2022, the D.A.‘s office announced the cops would not be prosecuted, citing the coroner’s conclusion that Quinto died of Excited Delirium Syndrome, which the American Medical Association does not recognize as an official diagnosis; it was dreamed up as “a sole justification for law enforcement use of excessive force,” per the AMA. An independent autopsy concluded the cause of death was restraint by asphyxiation. In May 2024, Quinto’s family settled a wrongful death suit with the city for $7.5 million.

In 2023 it was reported that nearly four dozen Antioch police officers have been implicated in corruption probes involving alleged racist policing, routine use of excessive force, and fabrication of evidence. As a result of an FBI investigation, nearly half of the officers in the Antioch Police Department were placed on leave, including several in management positions. 

In 2023 the Quinto family’s persistence led to California banning “excited delirium” as a cause of death. Angelo’s mother is an endorser of OPA. In October 2024 the family filed a lawsuit seeking modification of the death certificate by replacing the false cause with the actual one, restraint by asphyxiation.

The Quinto family is now calling for all cases that cited “excited delirium” to be re-opened, and we vigorously join that call. The police archives on Angelo’s case and other Antioch cases must also be opened to public scrutiny. We call for release of all coroner records and notes in this case, including any correspondence with police in preparation of the report and any prior drafts. All statements made by the four cops present, including texts and emails, along with any recordings, audio and video of the incident; personnel records, incident reports as well as any witness statements, including from any prior police agencies they worked. Open the archives!