The El Paso County Sheriff's Office announced an inmate's death at the Downtown jail, marking the fourth in-custody death for the agency so far this year.
Detention officers found an unresponsive inmate about 2:40 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, on a housing floor inside the county jail, 601 E. Overland Ave., in Downtown El Paso, sheriff's spokeswoman Priscilla I. Contreras said in a news release.
The inmate's name has not been released. A custodial death report has not been filed with the Texas Attorney General's Office, state records show. The sheriff's office has 30 days to submit the report.
The officers were conducting a "routine physical check of the housing floor" when they found the unresponsive inmate. Jailhouse medical staff and the El Paso Fire Department responded and immediately initiated life-saving measures, the news release states. However, the inmate was pronounced dead.
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There are no indications of foul play at this time, the news release states. No further information was released as the death remains under investigation.
The Texas Rangers and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit and Internal Affairs Division are conducting investigations into the death. The sheriff's office has notified the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in accordance with state law, the news release states.
There have been four in-custody deaths involving the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, which oversees the Downtown jail and the jail annex in far East El Paso. Three of the deaths were at the jails, while the fourth occurred when deputies were arresting a man, the Texas Attorney General's Office and the El Paso Times have reported.
George Vargas, 27, was the first reported death when he fell ill and was having trouble breathing before 6:50 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23, at the Downtown jail. He was taken to University Medical Center of El Paso, where he died on Jan. 25. Vargas' cause of death was ruled natural causes.
Roel Contreras, 46, was the second reported in-custody death of 2026. He died during a March 20 arrest in the 12000 block of Campo Bello Drive in San Elizario.
Deputies responded to reports that Roel Contreras was acting erratically, jumping into yards, screaming and taking off his clothes, El Paso County Sheriff's Office Cmdr. Jerome Washington said at the time of his death.
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Contreras allegedly became combative as deputies spoke with him. The deputies placed restraints on him and took him to a shaded area to wait for paramedics, but he became unresponsive, Washington said. No Taser electric-stun guns and no other weapons were used during the arrest.
Paramedics took Roel Contreras to Del Sol Medical Center, where he later died. A cause of death has not been released, as an autopsy report remains pending from the El Paso County Medical Examiner's Office, the custodial death report states.
Edward Tomas Moore, 38, died on May 8 at the county jail annex located at 12501 Montana Ave. in far East El Paso.
Moore had a possible seizure while being held at the annex. Medical staff performed CPR and Moore was taken to Providence East Hospital, where he later died, a custodial death report states. The report states the cause of death was ruled as natural causes caused by hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
There were 10 sheriff's office in-custody deaths at the Downtown jail and jail annex in 2025.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso sheriff reports in-custody death, fourth of 2026