Another Bexar County Jail Inmate Commits Suicide
On August 21, 2019, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department, in San Antonio, Texas, reported yet another death in its jail. The custodial death report, filed with the Attorney General of Texas, was regarding the death of Enrique Perez. Mr. Perez was only 25 years old at the time of his death. Information in this post obtained from that report, and we make allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.
Mr. Perez was originally incarcerated on August 1, 2019 in the San Antonio jail. On August 5, 2019, at approximately 9:50 p.m., a medical code was initiated after a jail officer was alerted by an inmate, who was occupying the same cell as Mr. Perez, that Mr. Perez was observed with a sheet tied around his neck and tied off to a partition wall inside the cell. A responding jailer began CPR. Ultimately, medical staff took over. Mr. Perez was pronounced as being deceased at 10:24 p.m.
The report regarding his death is only 2 pages long, which is significantly shorter than a typical custodial death report in Texas. Therefore, the report does not provide most of the information typically provided to the Attorney General.
County and city jail inmates in Texas jails have a constitutional right to be protected from themselves and others. This constitutional right includes the right to be protected if the inmate has displayed suicidal tendencies, or there is evidence indicating that the inmate might harm himself or herself. With regard to Mr. Perez, the report indicated that he had not made any suicidal statements or exhibited any mental health problems. The report does not provide any information regarding whether and how many periodic observations of Mr. Perez were made. Such observations are required by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone