Category: City Jails|County Jails|Custodial Death|El Paso Sheriff|Jail Medical Care Lawyer|Medical Care|Suicide

Chad Lenoch was placed in the Guadalupe County Jail in Seguin, Texas, just six days before his custodial death on October 10, 2022. After being found unresponsive on the same day he was pronounced deceased, he was transported to Guadalupe Regional Medical Center. Mr. Lenoch was no longer able to breathe on his own, and he was then moved to San Antonio’s University Hospital. His condition further worsened, and his death was declared at the hospital at 10:14 AM, per the summary of how the death occurred.

Robert John Barela Hangs Himself in El Paso County Jail

Another inmate suicide that occurred in a local jail in Texas this year happened in El Paso County Jail. At 37 years of age, Robert John Barela was arrested and booked into the El Paso, Texas, jail on February 10, 2022. The original custodial death report (CDR) about his passing was filed with the Office of Attorney General (OAG) by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office at 3850 Justice Road in El Paso, TX 79938, on March 2, 2022. The Amended CDR reveals that the manner of death was suicide, and the medical cause of death was “complications of hanging.”

Mr. Barela was in his single-occupancy cell when officers observed him hanging by a bedsheet from the ceiling on February 23, 2022. Lifesaving measures began immediately and were continued first by jail medical staff and then by emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Mr. Barela was transported to an El Paso hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 1:50 PM, minutes after being discovered.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series.

Providing help to county jail and city jail prisoners in Texas is the purpose of this website. Accusing individuals or organizations of wrongdoing is never intended on this site.

–Guest Contributor

The original version of a custodial death report (CDR) about 55-year-old Bennie Ray Bell was filed by the El Paso Sheriff’s Office on August 12, 2022. Mr. Bell’s cause of death is currently pending an autopsy. Eventually, an amended version of the CDR will be filed, revealing what caused Mr. Bell’s tragic July 24, 2022, death in El Paso County Jail Annex located at 12501 Montana in El Paso TX 78838.

Two Inmates Die of Mixed Drug Toxicity in the El Paso County Downtown Detention Facility

While he was jailed in the El Paso County Downtown Detention Facility, 31-year-old Justin Joshua Flores died on December 6, 2021. The cause of death was mixed drug toxicity—specifically, amphetamine and benzodiazepines.

In the same El Paso, Texas, jail, 23-year-old Brandon Pacheco Calzada died on December 24, 2021. Acute mixed drug toxicity is listed as the medical cause of death. The named drugs that were reportedly found in his system were fentanyl, hydroxyzine, trazodone, venlafaxine and 10-hydroxycarbazepine.

Two Inmates Commit Suicide in the El Paso County Downtown Detention Facility

Thirty-seven-year-old Robert John Barela was booked into the El Paso County Downtown Detention Facility on November 26, 2021. Tragically, he used a bedsheet to commit suicide in his single-occupancy cell and died on February 23, 2022.

On May 10, 2022, 39-year-old Andres Linares Baca was booked into the El Paso jail on Overland. He also used a bedsheet to commit suicide, and he died on May 29, 2022.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series.

This website aims to provide resources for Texas municipal and county jail prisoners. Making implications of wrongdoing against individuals or institutions is not intended on this site.

–Guest Contributor

Custodial Death Reports Seem to Conceal Jail Suicides Continued

Adam Talavera Dies in El Paso County Jail on 6/4/22

Adam Talavera died on June 4, 2022, at El Paso County Jail, though it is a different location from the El Paso jail where Andres Linares Baca died on May 29, 2022. Mr. Talavera died at the Jail Annex located at 12501 Montana Avenue, El Paso TX 79938. Mr. Baca was an inmate at 601 E. Overland in El Paso TX 79901. Although it isn’t confirmed yet–as it has been with Mr. Baca in an amended custodial death report (CDR)–it appears Mr. Talavera also died of suicide.

Mr. Talavera had been booked into the El Paso County Jail on August 17, 2020. He was housed in a single cell, and the CDR that was filed about him shows that the death location was the law enforcement facility/booking center at the Jail Annex. The summary of how the death occurred is brief. Officers found him unresponsive in his cell at 0513 hours on the morning of his death. First aid was given, but he was pronounced dead shortly after efforts to revive him started. The summary shows that both the manner of death and the medical cause of death are pending.

The CDR also shows, however, that the decedent caused the death and that the cause was not a pre-existing medical condition. Instead, the cause of death was accidental injury, intoxication, suicide, or homicide.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7 of this ongoing series.

Providing helpful information to Texas inmates detained in county and city jails is the purpose of this website. There is no intention on this site of accusing individuals or institutions of misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor

Custodial Death Reports Seem to Conceal Jail Suicides Continued

Two El Paso County Jail inmates recently died within six days of one another. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office filed custodial death reports (CDRs) with the OAG on the same day, which was June 28, 2022. Both CDRs vaguely provided a hint of possible suicide, but the information seemed to be veiled. Since then, one of the CDRs has been amended to state that suicide was the cause of Andres Linares Baca’s death. The other, which is the CDR for Adam Talavera, is still in its original form.

Andres Linares Baca Commits Suicide in El Paso County Jail on 5/29/22

The amended CDR for Andres Linares Baca was filed on July 26, 2022. Changes were made to the report to reflect the results from the medical examiner. Previously, the hint that Mr. Baca’s death may have been a suicide was found in answer to the question about the means of death. It indicated that hanging/strangulation was the means, though the summary of the original CDR showed that the cause of death was unknown and pending an autopsy.

In the amended version of the CDR for Mr. Baca, the manner of death indicates “Suicide.” The medical cause of death now shows “hanging.” The weapon used by the “decedent,” who caused the death, is a “Bed Sheet.”

Learn more in the next installment. Also see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 of this ongoing series.

This website seeks to provide helpful information to Texas inmates in municipal and county jails, whether they are currently or were previously incarcerated. There is no intention on this site of accusing people or organizations of engaging in wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor