Man Dies in Garza County Jail in Post, Texas From Apparent Drug Overdose

Juan Raul Garcia, Jr. passed away while in the custody of the Garza County Sheriff’s Office on February 9, 2018. Information in this post was obtained from a custodial death report filed by the Garza County Sheriff’s Office with the Attorney General of Texas. We make no allegation of any wrongdoing but instead are simply providing information.

Mr. Garcia entered the Garza County Jail on February 9, 2018 at approximately 3:49 p.m., being booked on a warrant out of a different county for driving while his license was invalid. At the request of a jailer, EMS was called to check Mr. Garcia upon intake. EMS checked Mr. Garcia’s vital signs and said that he was likely having a panic attack. Therefore, at approximately 3:49 p.m., Mr. Garcia was escorted to cell 192 to be changed out. A medical officer advised the captain that Mr. Garcia needed to be moved to a detox holding cell, number 188, for observation. The report is not clear about why Mr. Garcia was moved to a detox cell if in fact it was believed that he was only having a panic attack.

Mr. Garcia told an officer that he did not think he was going to make it. He then said that he had swallowed about a gram of methamphetamine. He was shaking and sweating profusely. Mr. Garcia, in response to being asked whether his body felt hot, answered, “Yes.” He was then asked if he would like to take a shower to cool down and maybe calm his nerves. He was asked one or more additional questions about how much methamphetamine he had swallowed and how often he used methamphetamine. It appears from the report that Mr. Garcia was not provided any additional medical assistance after the jail learned that he had swallowed methamphetamine and was having significant physical issues. It also appears that, no later than approximately 4:45 p.m., Mr. Garcia was left in detox cell number 188.

At approximately 6:05 p.m., a medical officer called the captain on the phone and said that she needed the captain in the jail. The captain entered the book-in area and observed Mr. Garcia on the floor in detox cell number 188, along with another police officer doing chest compressions. Mr. Garcia was pronounced deceased within the hour.

Once again, as we indicate above, we make no allegation of any wrongdoing in this post. However, pretrial detainees, who have been convicted of nothing, are entitled pursuant to the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution to reasonable medical care. They are also entitled to be protected from themselves and others. If jailers know of medical needs and are deliberately indifferent to those needs, they can be liable for violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and can be sued for damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.

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