Oklahoma County jail inmate dies after possible drug overdose

Nolan Clay, Oklahoman
·2 min read

An Oklahoma County jail inmate died Friday, the seventh so far this year.

Eddie Garcia, 25, of Oklahoma City, was pronounced dead at a hospital at 3:03 a.m. Friday, according to a news release. A detention officer found him unresponsive in his cell about 2 a.m. Friday during a sight check.

The death was being investigated as a possible fentanyl overdose, the jail's communications director, Mark Opgrande, said.

A vial containing 2 mg of fentanyl, which can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
A vial containing 2 mg of fentanyl, which can be lethal depending on a person’s body size, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Garcia was booked into jail March 21. He was facing a felony charge accusing him of driving a stolen car and endangering others during a police chase last year. He also was facing a misdemeanor charge accusing him of violating a protective order.

The latest death comes even as jail officials step up efforts to keep drugs and other contraband from being smuggled inside. A detention officer, China Lynn Tucker, 33, was arrested and fired after being caught with contraband in her vehicle May 5, officials said.

More: Woman accused of getting arrested so she could sneak fentanyl into Oklahoma County jail

Investigators found five wrapped bundles containing marijuana, methamphetamine and fentanyl, according to a news release. Also found were three cellphones wrapped in black electrical tape, two packs of cigarettes, one pack of cigars and more than $5,900 in cash.

"The introduction of contraband into the jail can have deadly consequences,” the jail's administrator, Greg Williams, said May 6. “We will continue to be proactive and vigilant. Any employee, contract worker or visitor attempting to bring in contraband will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law, period.”

Oklahoma County jail administrator Greg Williams
Oklahoma County jail administrator Greg Williams

The first Oklahoma County jail inmate to die this year had fentanyl in his blood, a pathologist reported in an autopsy report April 29.

Murder defendant Austin Blaine Bishop, 30, of Stigler, died Jan. 12. The pathologist put his probable cause of death as acute fentanyl toxicity.

More than 107,000 drug users died in the United States last year from overdoses, according to figures released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the deaths were attributed to fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid.

Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl with other illicit drugs to drive addiction and create repeat customers, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said last week.

"Many people who are overdosing and dying don’t even know that they are taking fentanyl," the DEA said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma County jail inmate dies of possible drug overdose