Richard Altamirano died in the custody of Bexar County Jail in San Antonio, Texas, on November 8, 2021. He was 58 years old. The cause of death is currently pending autopsy results, according to the custodial death report.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards reports that, year after year, the number of complaints about medical neglect outnumber all other sorts of complaints against county jails in the state. A watchdog group brought complaints about inmate medical care in some Texas county jails to light a few years back in an article that was published online. The following are some of the allegations made at that time:

• A county jail inmate was in need of antibiotics because he’d had a recent surgery. His wound began to ooze because his incision was not properly cleaned. The inmate claimed that gnats entered his body through the wounds. In spite of requests, a doctor did not see the inmate until there was a development of an additional abscess filled with pus.
• A juvenile had a heart defect, which was known by the jail staff. When the teenager suffered from chest pain, he was given Pepto-Bismol. Soon after, the teen collapsed and died. The cause of death was a split heart valve.
• A Texas county jail inmate suffering from AIDS reportedly sobbed in his cell, claiming that he was not provided with his medication. He ultimately died in custody.

The report further claims that inmate requests to see doctors went unread for weeks at a time. At one jail, the requests were haphazardly tossed into filing cabinets. There was no distinction in the approach between handling a minor issue and a major issue. For instance, a complaint about shower shoes might be next to a request regarding a lump found in an inmate’s breast.

See Part 1 and this continuing series.

There is never an intention on this website to make any sort of suggestion that misdeeds have occurred on the part of any person or institution. Providing assistance to inmates in Texas county jails is the purpose of each of this site’s posts.

–Guest Contributor