Inmate Dies While Detained At Travis County Jail

AUSTIN, TX — An inmate detained at the Travis Correctional Complex died after being found unresponsive in his cell, sheriff's officials said Wednesday.

Naquan Jamar Carter, 23, was found unresponsive in his cell just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 24, Travis County Sheriff's Office officials said in a press advisory. Officers and medical staff initiated CPR in efforts to resuscitate the man, but he was pronounced dead at 10:39 a.m., a sheriff's office spokeswoman said.

An investigation by the Internal Affairs Unit, the Texas Rangers and the Medical Examiner’s Office is ongoing, as is customary with any death in custody, according to the press advisory. Officials added that evidence indicates Carter likely died of natural causes. The autopsy was conducted on July 25, 2018 and the final report is pending toxicology results, officials added.

The inmate is the second to die at the jail this month. On July 8, Ronald Lynn Hall, 55, of Austin was found on the floor of his Travis County Correctional Complex cell in distress, a sheriff's office spokeswoman said. Hall was rushed to Dell Seton Medical Center while medics performed CPR on him. But by 10:20 a.m., Hall was pronounced dead.

The death is the fourth at the Travis County Jail in two months since May 31, when two inmates died at the Travis County Jail on the same day in what officials also described as natural causes. Eric Taylor, 24, of Austin, was found on the floor of his cell and Donald Cook, 50, of Austin, was found unresponsive in his cell during dinner service before being pronounced dead.

In June 2017, Herman Titus, 21, of Austin was found in critical condition but sheriff's officials said evidence found at scene suggests no foul play was involved. Citing recent passage of the Sandra Bland Act, the Travis County Sheriff's Office has asked the Texas Rangers to conduct an investigation into the death, officials said at the time. Titus was transported by EMS to South Austin Hospital in critical condition before dying shortly after his arrival.

The following month, on July 8, 2017, Eloy Villanueva, 43, of Austin was found unresponsive in his jail cell at around noon on Sunday, jail officials said. EMS medics were dispatched to the scene about 10 minutes later and performed CPR, but the inmate was pronounced dead by 12:51 p.m., Travis County Sheriff's Office officials said.

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