Five individuals, including four inmates and one guard, have been charged in connection with the death of a Texas inmate at the Bexar County Jail in San Antonio.
According to KENS5, the charged individuals are Rudy Bueno (29), Gilbert Suarez (38), Rodrigo Martinez III (30), Gabriel Benjamin Garcia (41), and former Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputy Clemente Lopez Jr. (20). They have been linked to the murder of fellow inmate Francisco Bazan, aged 46.
Bueno, the latest to receive charges, was Bazan’s cellmate. The assault appears to have been sparked by a $40 debt.
An earlier report by CrimeOnline stated that on May 2, jailer Lopez was apprehended for permitting three inmates to enter another inmate’s cell, resulting in an assault that ultimately caused the inmate’s death, as reported by KSAT.
Francisco Bazan was violently assaulted after a group of inmates “instructed Lopez to open the door” to Bazan’s cell, according to the arrest affidavit. When Lopez opened the cell, he told the inmates, “Don’t make it bad.” The three inmates were then seen by Lopez kicking Bazan in the face and smashing his head against the concrete.
“Lopez was observing the entire assault from outside the jail cell,” the warrant states.
Bazan was found unresponsive in his cell. Medical staff’s attempts to save him were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead in the early morning hours of April 30. An autopsy revealed that Bazan died from internal bleeding due to “blunt force injury to the torso,” and his death was ruled a homicide, according to KENS5.
According to the arrest warrants, the Texas Rangers have been informed of two other possible inmates’ involvement, but no charges have been filed.
Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Pixabay]
