Man Incarcerated in Reeves County Jail Dies of Pneumonia – Federal Lawsuit Filed

For Immediate Release

Pecos, Texas – May 29, 2025

Peter Mendoza, Jr. was arrested and taken to the Reeves County jail. He was incarcerated in that jail for several days and ultimately died at a local hospital after being transported by ambulance far too late.

Jailers indicated that Peter displayed a number of symptoms while allegedly going through withdrawals. A number of jail employees saw and learned of symptoms such as body chills, profuse sweating, and minimal appetite. By the time Peter received needed emergency medical care, his blood pressure and blood oxygen levels were far too low. Peter needlessly died of severe pneumonia.

Constitutional rights lawyer Dean Malone represents a family member and filed a federal lawsuit in Pecos against Reeves County. Mr. Malone said, “It appears that the Reeves County jail either failed to staff appropriate medical personnel at night and on weekends or failed to provide appropriate medical care for issues with which Peter was clearly suffering. No one in our state, with the abundance of qualified medical personnel, should die of untreated pneumonia. We continue to see a number of cases across Texas of jails failing to treat people for known serious medical needs. This needs to stop.”

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.

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