Dec. 21—The Cameron County Sheriff’s Department will have to submit a custodial death report to the Texas Attorney General’s Office following the death of an inmate in the county jail.
Jose Sergio Valdez, 49, died Saturday while in custody at the Carrizales Rucker Detention Center in Olmito.
Texas law requires anytime there is the death of an inmate in the custody of a law enforcement agency, that agency must report the death to the AG’s office no later than 30 days after the inmate’s death.
According to a sheriff’s department media release, Valdez died Saturday morning at Valley Regional Medical Center after suffering a medical emergency Friday night.
The release reads that “security footage showed Valdez exercising Friday evening, then sitting down & within minutes slumping over & falling face down.”
Detention officers and medical personnel immediately provided aid to Valdez while waiting for EMS personnel to arrive.
According to the department, a preliminary report attributes the cause of death as a brain hemorrhage. An autopsy has been ordered.
Records show that Valdez was arrested by the sheriff’s department on Aug. 31, 2022, on a motion to revoke warrant. A Cameron County grand jury indicted him on May 9, 2018, for stealing meat from an H-E-B grocery store, officials said. The type of meat that was stolen was not included in the indictment.
Although he was probated for five years, he failed to appear at scheduled court appearances, officials said.
Court records also show that Valdez had later been arrested by the Wharton County Sheriff’s Department, Harris County Constable’s Office and the Laredo Police Department also on theft charges.