4th inmate commits suicide in Bexar County

SAN ANTONIO — An inmate died early Friday at the Bexar County Jail in what appears to be the fourth suicide at the facility in as many weeks, officials said.

“I don’t care what this young man did, what this gentleman did — his life is gone,” said Bexar County Sheriff Susan Pamerleau at an afternoon news conference.

The suicide came just days after representatives from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards had a face-to-face meeting with the Bexar County Sheriff ’s Office and University Health System after the third suicide and a TCJS special visit July 12 that came after the second.

The inmate who died Friday was identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s office as Melvin McKinney, 40, who was charged in September 2013 with aggravated assault on a public servant for the non-fatal shooting in the head of San Antonio Police officer Aaron Terrazas.

McKinney was found in his cell Friday and was pronounced dead around 7:30 a.m., according to the sheriff ’s department.

It was the fourth suicide since Victor Casas, 40, hanged himself with a bedsheet June 28. Two more men, Jonathan Campos, 22, and Jesus Jose Lopez, 18, also hanged themselves with bedsheets July 9 and July 14, respectively. Lopez died July 15. None of them were under a mental health watch.

The sheriff ’s department confirmed that McKinney, too, died by hanging himself with his bedsheet. The medical examiner’s office has declared all four deaths suicides.

A fifth inmate, Demone Satberry, 41, was determined to have died of natural causes July 6.

“My deepest condolences to the family,” said Gilbert Gonzales, the director of mental health for Bexar County, in a phone interview early Friday. “It is always a tragedy. In fact, when we lose anyone to suicide I take it personally.”

He added that “the community is in shock. It is a system-wide trauma.”

The Bexar County Jail has seen at least 924 suicide attempts this year, according to Bexar County Sheriff’s Office spokesman James Keith. A suicide attempt is defined as any incident where an inmate is “actively engaged in suicidal behavior such as trying to hang himself or cutting his wrist,” Keith said.

Pamerleau said internal investigations were ongoing.