Juan Carlos Guerrero Dies After Being in Bexar County, Texas Jail

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, in San Antonio, Texas, filed a report regarding the death of Juan Carlos Guerrero. Mr. Guerrero was 44 years old at the time of his death. We provide in this post information we obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

The report indicates that Mr. Guerrero was originally incarcerated on October 4, 2022 at 3:20 a.m. It also indicates that he passed away on November 2, 2022 at 7:54 p.m., as a result of suicide. Mr. Guerrero was arrested only for possession of a controlled substance. The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“Inmate Guerrero, Juan #XXXXXX was found inside of his cell on 11/02/2022 at approximately 0330 hours, by Officer A. Ulcak #1779. Inmate Guerrero had a sheet tied around his neck with the other end tied to the top bunk inside of his assigned cell (BE28). Deputy Ulcak called for assistance by activating his duress box (Officer in need of assistance) and held inmate Guerrero up by the arm to relieve pressure off of inmate Guerrero’s neck. Officer Ulcak utilized a rescue cutting tool to cut the sheet from inmate Guerrero’s neck. Deputy Ulcak then proceeded to check for a pulse. When no pulse was found, a Code 1 Blue (emergency medical assistance required) via the radio. Deputy Ulcak began chest compressions until medical staff arrived. Medical staff responded and continued life saving measures for inmate Guerrero. Inmate Guerrero was transported by ambulance to Downtown Baptist Emergency Room. Inmate Guerrero succumbed to the injuries and was pronounced deceased at approximately 1954 hours by Dr. Sergio Burguete.”

Therefore, the report provides no information regarding whether and how often Mr. Guerrero was observed, or any information about any ongoing medical or mental health issues. The report does indicate that Mr. Guerrero did not exhibit any mental health problems or make suicidal statements.

The United States Constitution requires jails to protect suicidal inmates from those suicidal tendencies. This protection is typically provided pursuant to the 14^th Amendment. If jailers, medical personnel, and/or mental health personnel in a Texas county jail are deliberately indifferent to an inmate’s known suicidal tendencies, and the inmate dies as a result, then certain surviving family members may be able to file a federal civil rights lawsuit. Our Texas jail neglect firm is handling a number of such suits across Texas.

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.