Victor Rene Gonzales Dies After Being in Travis County, Texas Jail

The Travis County Sheriff’s Department, in Austin, Texas, filed a report regarding the custodial death of Victor Rene Gonzales. Mr. Gonzales was only 37 years old at the time of his death. We provide information we obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

The summary portion of the reports reads in its entirety:

“On 9/3/2022 at about 1000 hrs, the post officer observed Inmate Victor Gonzales laying naked on the floor of his single man cell. Gonzales was alert, conscious, and was scratching his body. Gonzales pushed the intercom button in his cell shortly after and told the post officer that he had difficulty breathing. Gonzales could not advise what was the cause, only that he could not breath. Medical staff was advised and Gonzales was told to get dressed so he could be taken to be seen by medical staff. At about 1020 hrs, Gonzales started to gasp for breath and went unresponsive when another officer attempted to move him to medical. CPR was initiated on Gonzales by TCSO staff until relieved by EMS & FD. EMS transported Gonzales to Dell Seton Medical Center where he was later pronounced deceased on 9/4/2022 at 0343 hrs.”

The report also indicates that Mr. Gonzales, as the most serious offense for which he was incarcerated, was incarcerated for a prohibited substance in a correctional facility. The report also indicates that he originally entered the jail on September 1, 2022 at 3:06 p.m. Unfortunately, the report provides no information regarding Mr. Gonzales’s previous medical issues, how often he had been observed in the jail, or anything else leading up to the incident.

People who are incarcerated in Texas county jails have the right, under the United States Constitution, to receive medical care for serious issues. If jailers and/or medical personnel in a jail fail to provide such care, and they are unreasonable and/or deliberately indifferent in doing so, then they could be liable to certain surviving family members of a person who dies as a result. Also, if a jail’s policies, practices and/or customs result in suffering and/or death of a person incarcerated in a Texas county jail, the county likewise could be liable to certain surviving family members.

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.