A 44-year-old man arrested on a possession charge died in his jail cell after being found unresponsive on the night of Feb. 19, according to Kristen Dark, Public Information Officer at the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.
Dark said a corrections officer conducted a routine visual check on inmate Rene Martin at about 10:20 p.m. and found him unresponsive in his cell.
“A post visual report less than 30 minutes earlier indicated nothing out of the ordinary,” she said.
Jail personnel tried to save Martin using CPR, and EMS personnel arrived later and took over, but resucitation efforts were ultimately unsuccessful and Martinez was pronounced deceased at 11:49 pm.
Officers had booked Martinez into the Travis County Jail February 18 on a charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance.
An investigation by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office (TSCO) Internal Affairs Unit, Texas Rangers, TCSO Criminal Investigation Division and the Medical Examiner’s Office is underway, as is customary with any death in custody.
