Custodial death report on county inmate submitted to Attorney General's Office
Dec. 29—A custodial death report submitted to the Texas Attorney General's Office in reference to the death of a Brownsville man who died while in custody of the Cameron County Sheriff's Department contains little additional information on his death.
According to the Dec. 22, 2022, report, on Dec. 16, Jose Sergio Valdez, 49, was seen on jail surveillance video exercising before "sitting down in a table to watch TV. Inmate suddenly collapses to the floor and is medically attended."
Valdez was transported to Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, where he was seen by a doctor.
On Dec. 17, at about 4:44 p.m., he was pronounced dead.
"Both the medical doctor at Valley Regional hospital and the pathologist who conducted the autopsy concluded that inmate Jose Sergio Valdez had a brain aneurysm and added there was no indication of any trauma to the body," the custodial death report stated.
Texas law requires anytime there is a death of an inmate in the custody of a law enforcement agency, that agency must report the death to the AG's office no later than 30 days after the inmate's death.
Records show that Valdez was arrested by the sheriff's department on Aug. 31, 2022, on a motion to revoke warrant.
A Cameron County grand jury indicted him on May 9, 2018, for stealing meat from an H-E-B grocery store.
Although he was sentenced to years in prison and probated for five years, he failed to appear at scheduled court appearances.
Court records also show that Valdez was later arrested by the Wharton County Sheriff's Department, Harris County Constable's Office and the Laredo Police Department.
