Vincent Leyva Dies After Incarceration in El Paso, Texas Jail

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office filed a report with the Attorney General of Texas regarding the death of Vincent Leyva. Mr. Leyva was only 42 years old at the time of his death. We provide information we obtained from that filed report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“Date of Incident: 05/05/2023 @ 0648 Hours Location: El Paso County Detention Facility 601 E. Overland Ave. El Paso, TX. Name of Inmate: Julian Torres/DOB: XX/XX/1982 SS# XXX-XX-XXXX Investigator: Detective Jorge Andrade (915) 538-2174 Texas Ranger Gustavo Sanchez Details: On 04/14/2023 at approximately 0530 hours, Torres was booked into the Downtown Detention Facility. Torres was later assigned to a single cell (lock down) under administrative separation, 720 4L. On 05/ 02/20233 at approximately 1235 hours, officers were conducting a security check and discovered Torres lying face down on the cell floor with facial injuries and unresponsive. Medical Staff was requested to provide aid. Emergency Medical Technicians with the El Paso Fire Department were also requested and transported Torres to Las Palmas Hospital. While at the hospital, Torres was revived and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit on life support. On 05/05/2023 at approximately 0648 hours, despite medical efforts Torres was pronounced brain dead.”

Oddly, in response to the question whether Mr. Leyva exhibited any mental health problems, El Paso responded, “Unknown.” Moreover, El Paso County was cited for being out of compliance with Texas Commission on Jail Standards requirements. A notice of non-compliance read in part, “Video and documentation reviewed for a custodial death revealed jailers failed to notify medical of the need for possible acute and emergency care of inmate Vincent Leyva.” Our law firm is handling another lawsuit against El Paso County, and we are expected to go to trial in the next few months.

The United States Constitution requires jails across Texas to provide reasonable medical care to pretrial detainees and inmates. If a jail fails to do so, and a person dies as a result, then certain family members may be able to file a federal civil rights lawsuit. Our jail neglect firm, in addition to the lawsuit against El Paso County, is handling a number of such cases 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.