Justin Joshua Flores Dies at El Paso County, Texas Jail

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, in Texas, filed a report with the Attorney General of Texas regarding the death of Justin Joshua Flores. Mr. Flores was only 31 years old at the time of his death. We provide information we obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrong doing against anyone.

The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“On 12/06/2021 at approximately 9:30pm Cpl. A. Arciniaga and Nurse Dustan were dispensing medication to cell block 650 Cpl. Arciniaga observes inmate Flores take his medication. At 10:38pm. Inmates in cell 650 contact the guard station office through the inter com system that an inmate in cell 650 had fainted and was not breathing. At 10:41pm. Officers Arciniaga and Blair responded to cell block 650 and observed inmate Flores laying on the floor they stated that he appeared to be unresponsive laying on the floor, there were no signs of injury or trauma, Cpl. Arciniaga check for a pulse and non was detected. Cpl. Arciniaga requested medical staff to respond first aid was administered as well as an A.E.D. Inmate Flores was transported to a local area hospital where he was pronounced dead by Dr. Williamson at 11:51pm. Investigation is on going / Autopsy is pending.”

The report does not indicate anything regarding the times of observations by jailers of Mr. Flores. The report does indicate that Mr. Flores did not make any suicidal statements or exhibit any mental health problems.

People who are held in Texas county jails have the right to receive reasonable medical care and reasonable mental health care. They also have the right to be protected from their own suicidal tendencies, and assault by other jail inmates. If a county violates a person’s constitutional rights while that person is being held in a county jail, and the person dies as a result, then certain family members may be able to bring a lawsuit in federal court.

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.