Julio Negrete Jr.
Julio Negrete Jr., 35, was held at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, Riverside County, California, when he died in May 2013. The Riverside County sheriff's office said jail staff found him unconscious and unresponsive, and it classified the death as a homicide, saying he had been in a physical altercation with another person held there. A later news report said he had been assigned a cellmate, that guards could not find him for a scheduled escort the next day, and that his body was found under a lower bunk, with video showing the attack about ten hours earlier. The sheriff's department said the assaults were isolated and not the result of a lapse in policy.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (neglect alleged). The coroner and court records say he was strangled by his cellmate, and video showed the attack happened about ten hours before guards found him; the sheriff's department said the assaults were isolated and not the result of a policy lapse.
Reported by: Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner's Office (medical examiner or coroner); Riverside County sheriff's Lt. Joe Borja (the agency that held him); court records.