HOUSTON, Texas – Nearly a month after learning 32-year-old Alexis Jovany Cardenas died while being escorted out of the Harris County Jail, KPRC 2 has learned more about what led up to his death.
During a Friday afternoon press conference, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said one sergeant and six detention officers have been temporarily reassigned to duties that do not involve direct contact with inmates following the ongoing investigation into the inmate’s death.
The video shows a detention officer open the door for Cardenas to leave the jail around 12:50 a.m. on July 8. Cardenas appears to point at his phone before a struggle ensues, which resulted in Cardenas being dragged and having his pants removed. A detention officer also got pulled to the ground and another one fired a Taser. Cardenas fought his way into another secure room of the jail where other inmates awaited release, where several detention officers ultimately pinned him down for about eight minutes, at which point they realized he was unresponsive.
“I’ve never had a situation where somebody had already exited or was on the verge of literally exiting the door when they wanted to come back in for whatever reason,” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. “Nothing was obtained from Mr. Cardenas related to any mental health issues or crisis or anything of note.”
One detention officer started to render CPR, according to the video, but Cardenas died at the hospital.
His cause and manner of death have not yet been determined.
On Friday, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office released the video related to this incident.
[Please watch at your own discretion]
“All we saw was escalation from the deputies involved,” said Krish Gundu, co-founder and director of the Texas Jail Project. “What we don’t understand is why the deputies needed to put so much pressure on his neck and his back for an extended period of time.”
Sheriff Gonzalez said the agency has not received a determination yet on whether the death will be ruled in-custody, based on the timing of it.
“I care deeply for what happens in our facilities and for the individuals’ loss of life. And again, we extend our condolences to the family, because we understand that this is very extremely hard for them. And so we’ll learn from each incident as best we can. And once it’s all complete, we’ll learning even more, because we’ll have a fuller picture,” Sheriff Gonzalez said.
Cardenas family responds to video release
Family members are calling for the deputies involved to be fired and charged.
After the video was released to the public, the Cardenas family released a statement, stating they are devastated by HCSO leaders on Friday.
“We are absolutely devastated by the actions of HCSO leadership today. HCSO never informed us or asked us for permission to release this horrific video of Alexis’ murder at the hands of HCSO staff. We feel that Alexis has been stripped off his dignity even in death,” the statement read.
Family members said he did not deserve this, and his family and young children do not deserve this. The said HCSO’s decision was “deeply deplorable and unforgivable.”
“We condemn HCSO’s actions in the strongest terms possible. Especially the actions of deputies who escalated the situation right from the get-go instead of de-escalating.”
After reviewing the released footage, the family stated they did not see where Cardenas was fighting the detention officers and saw him asking for help. They stated that deputies escalated the situation further.
“It’s clear that Alexis was asking for some sort of help during release, but instead of helping him officers decided to use force and dehumanize him,” the statement read.
Family of Cardenas there was no need to apply so much force on his neck and back for so long after he had clearly stopped moving and breathing.
What Happened
Cardenas was able to force his way back into a secure area of the jail where other inmates were being processed and released.
At 1:57 a.m., Cardenas was pronounced dead while at St. Joseph Hospital.
Cardenas had been in jail since Sunday, July 6, when the Houston Police Department arrested him on multiple outstanding municipal misdemeanor warrants.
The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences is conducting an autopsy to determine Cardenas’ cause of death.
An administrative investigation to determine whether all relevant policies were followed is being conducted as well by Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs.
Cardenas family’s full statement:
“We are absolutely devastated by the actions of HCSO leadership today. HCSO never informed us or asked us for permission to release this horrific video of Alexis’ murder at the hands of HCSO staff. We feel that Alexis has been stripped off his dignity even in death. He did not deserve this, and his family and young children do not deserve this. We find HCSO’s decision deeply deplorable and unforgivable.
“We condemn HCSO’s actions in the strongest terms possible. Especially the actions of deputies who escalated the situation right from the get-go instead of de-escalating. We did not see Alexis fighting. We saw him asking for help followed by the deputies escalating the situation.
“In fact, the only person who was trying to de-escalate the situation was Alexis. It seemed like his phone was dead and he was asking for help because he was being released so late at night in violation of state law and local policy that mandates that detainees shall not be released between 9 pm and 6 am. How was he going to call his family? How was he going to get home?
“Everything we saw in the video contradicted all the statements we had heard from HCSO until today starting with “Alexis suffered a medical emergency upon release from Harris County,” “he collapsed upon exiting the facility,” “he reached for the taser,” and “CPR and lifesaving attempts were conducted immediately.” All of these statements have proven to be false by the video.
“Right from the beginning, every single system that was supposed to ensure his safety, failed him. Starting with the HPD officers who arrested him after he stopped them to ask for help during a mental health crisis.
“Then the jail’s medical and mental health screening failed him during intake and during the approximately 30 hours he was incarcerated. The Sheriff has publicly claimed that people brought in in mental health crises with non-violent misdemeanors are diverted from jail. Alexis had the lowest level charge possible and yet he was not diverted.
“It’s clear that Alexis was asking for some sort of help during release, but instead of helping him officers decided to use force and dehumanize him.
“We saw an excessive and unnecessary use of prolonged force, especially after leg restraints were put on him. There was no need to apply so much force on his neck and back for so long after he had clearly stopped moving and breathing. You can clearly see the deep marks left on his neck and back from the pressure applied by the two deputies for at least 5- 7 mins.
“We cannot understand why no medical personnel were called immediately to provide acute care. We never saw a nurse or an EMT. Just an overwhelming number of deputies even after he had stopped moving. Use of body cameras have been sold to the community as a tool for transparency and accountability, but the bodycams were not even turned on for most of the incident. And when one was turned on, it was completely useless. We cannot trust anything that Sheriff Gonzalez said today during the press conference because he blatantly lied about something as simple as having called two family members on the day that Alexis was killed. He left one voicemail on Alexis’ 12 year old daughter’s cellphone. That’s all!
“If he can prevaricate about something so insignificant, it’s impossible to believe anything else he claims. We demand the following:
- All the footage including every single bodycam be released to us, not the public, including the audio from the wall camera
- Every single deputy and staff member who was involved in the incident be terminated
- The DA bring charges against the deputies involved including the ranking officer who allowed escalation and did not render life-saving assistance
- Release paperwork from intake screening documentation, health records and jail release
- All the mental health and medical screening and care policies be immediately reviewed and changed to prevent such incidents
- Immediate release of ME’s report and autopsy findings
In conclusion, not only are our hearts broken but we will never be able to trust law enforcement again. Actions like the ones we saw in the video and the ones that led to Alexis’ arrest are the reason why people’s faith in law enforcement has eroded. Every single system and system actor that was supposed to protect him, failed him. And failed his children."