GALVESTON COUNTY – The Texas Rangers are investigating after an inmate at the Galveston County Jail passed away Tuesday.
39-year-old Saul Vargas had been in the jail for eight days after being arrested for evading arrest and burglary of motor vehicles.
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Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said Vargas was displaying behavior that forced authorities to taze him but failed to provide specifics.
He was allegedly found unresponsive around 30 minutes later in his cell. CPR was reportedly performed, but Vargas was later pronounced dead at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
This is the third inmate death at this jail in the past year.
Civil rights groups and the victim’s family are demanding for video of the incident to be released.
“I just beat cancer, and he was helping me get through it,” said Candelaria Palacios, Saul’s wife.
“They took him from me and my kids. I need him back. Why did it have to be like this? He was a good guy...He didn’t deserve to die. This has taken a toll on me. All my kids. All my family. All his family. We can’t believe this happened. We want answers.”
Leaders with The New Black Panther Nation said they will be helping the family pursue justice.
“We understand that people have issues when they have to go to jail and things like that. We get it. But the thing is, you’re supposed to be treating these people as human beings, okay? And that is not what’s going on here,” said National Minister of Politics Candice Matthews.
“There should not be an issue where you go to jail and then you can check in, but you can’t check out. We demand transparency. We demand accountability.”
