A 23-year-old Dies After One Day in Jim Wells County Jail in Alice, Texas
On Wednesday, January 31, 2018, Marcus Soza, age 23, was booked into Jim Wells County Jail in Alice, Texas. Late the next day, he was discovered unresponsive in his holding cell. He was quickly transported to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
According to jail staff, Soza was alone in his cell at the time he was discovered in an unresponsive state. Jail officials said that he had been checked on every 35 minutes up to that time.
The Texas Rangers will conduct an investigation into this custodial death. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) will conduct a special inspection at the jail. Documents and video footage will be examined, to determine whether minimum jail standards were being met at the time Soza was found unresponsive.
An example of a special Jail Inspection Report is one that followed a custodial death in San Patricio County Jail in Sinton, Texas. It was determined during the review of a death in custody that the magistrate was not notified, as required by directives on the Screening Form for Suicide and Medical/Mental/Developmental Impairments. The failure to notify a magistrate was verified by the jail administration. The previous year, in a March 2, 2016, Annual Inspection Report, the staff was found to be inconsistent in following through with the requirement of notifying the magistrate.
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smchugh