Anthony Lee Villarreal Dies After Being in Hidalgo County, Texas Jail
The Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Department filed a custodial death report regarding the death of Anthony Lee Villarreal. Mr. Villarreal was only 25 years old at the time he died. We provide information in this post obtained from that report, and we make no allegation that anyone did anything wrong and which caused Mr. Villarreal’s death. The custodial death report does not provide sufficient information to make such a determination.
The Hidalgo County jail is in Edinburg, Texas. The report regarding Mr. Villarreal’s death did not include answers to the following: Death Code, Manner of Death Description, Custody Code, Code of Charges, Intoxicated, and Mental Treatment Description. The report did indicate that Mr. Villarreal did not make suicidal statements, did not receive medical treatment, did not exhibit any medical problems, and did not exhibit any mental health problems.
The summary portion of the report read in its entirety:
“Inmate Anthony Lee Villarreal was arrested on October 06, 2010 at approximately 5:07 pm, on a Hidalgo County’s 389th District Court warrant for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and was booked into the Hidalgo County Jail. On 10-10-2020 at approximately 1:25 am, inmate was removed from housing cell block and transferred to jail infirmary. Medical log noted that inmate had a seizure for about 2 to 3 minutes. Inmate had soiled from both bowel and bladder. Inmate was agitated and aggressive and disoriented. Inmate was placed in a restraint chair to avoid self-harm or injury. At 1:38 am inmate had another seizure and was removed from restrain chair. EMS personnel was called to jail for transport to medical facility. At 2:12 am, inmate was transported to Edinburg Regional Hospital by ambulance. At approximately 3:20 am hospital personnel called jail to inform that inmate had arrived at emergency room in cardiac arrest and was placed on life support in the Intensive Care Unit. At 7:40 am, inmate passed away. Sheriff’s Office Investigators responded to the Hospital along with Texas Rangers to investigate the inmate’s death. Hidalgo County Pct. 5 Justice of the Peace Jason Pena pronounced the inmate dead at 11:10 am and ordered an autopsy.”
It is uncertain as to what happened to Mr. Villarreal in jail from October 6, 2020 through October 10, 2020. We assume that the year 2010 reference in the summary above is a typographical error. Texas County Jail inmates have a constitutional right to receive reasonable medical care and mental health care. They also have the right to be protected from themselves and others. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards requires that county jailers observe inmates on a periodic basis, and see those inmates face-to-face. We are uncertain as to what, if any, observations were made of Mr. Villarreal before his emergency medical episode.
The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is the source of guarantees described above. If a person dies in a Texas county jail, and jailers were deliberately indifferent and/or acted objectively unreasonably, and/or the custom, policy, and/or practice of the county was a moving force behind and/or caused the death, then certain surviving family members may be able to bring a federal lawsuit for damages. These lawsuits are usually filed by constitutional rights attorneys and are typically litigated in federal court.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone