COVID-Positive California Man Dies In Jail Hours After Being Medically Cleared For Arrest

A 67-year-old California prisoner, who tested positive for COVID-19, died hours after he was medically cleared for arrest.

Gilbert Gonzalo Gil of Escondido died at Vista Detention Facility in San Diego after being found unresponsive Monday evening, reported KUSI News. There were no signs of suspicious circumstances related to the death, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said. His cause of death was pending.

However, Sheriff’s Lt. Thomas Seiver told The San Diego Union-Tribune a toxicology test taken during his autopsy indicated a presumptive positive result for methamphetamine.

Reports said Gil was first taken into custody Saturday by a California Highway Patrol officer on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He was then booked into the Vista jail.

However, he was released Sunday morning. A few hours later, Gil was taken again into custody after he was suspected of being under the influence of a controlled substance in Escondido. He was subsequently taken to the Palomar Medical Center.

Seiver did not say why officers felt a doctor needed to check him out. Gil then tested positive for COVID-19 there, but was medically cleared to go back to jail. About 2:30 a.m. (5:30 am ET) Monday, Gil was booked once again into Vista Detention Facility. He was placed in a holding cell by himself, Seiver said.

By evening, deputies performing a safety check found Gil unconscious and unresponsive in his cell. Jail staff and paramedics immediately undertook lifesaving attempts, but he was declared dead at the scene soon.

Reports added Gil was the third San Diego County jail inmate to die this year. While one of them contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized, the other died months after being diagnosed with an unspecified terminal illness.

Recently, a 29-year-old inmate of a Texas county jail had died of COVID-19 complications. Vanessa Estrada, an inmate of Bexar County Jail, died days after testing positive for COVID-19 while being incarcerated. Reports said after she tested positive, Estrada was relocated to another unit for quarantine. But her condition worsened, following which she was taken to University Hospital. Doctors said Estrada died due to complications from COVID-19 and pre-existing tuberculosis.