GALVESTON, Texas – A former corrections officer with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office has been indicted by a grand jury in connection with the death of an inmate at the county jail last year.
Skyler Ray Chapman was indicted Tuesday on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the September 2024 death of Saul Vargas.
Vargas died on Sept. 10, 2024. He had been in jail for eight days after being arrested for evading arrest and burglary of motor vehicles.
At the time, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said Vargas was displaying behavior that forced authorities to taze him but failed to provide specifics. He was allegedly found unresponsive around 30 minutes later in his cell.
CPR was reportedly performed, but Vargas was later pronounced dead at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Indictment records and Vargas’ death certificate reveal he died from Asphyxia due to neck compression after Chapman used his knee or leg to compress Vargas’ neck.
The Texas Rangers investigated the case, and the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office presented the evidence to the grand jury.
The district attorney’s office says Chapman’s employment with the sheriff’s office was terminated in January.
“Our Office will prosecute this case vigorously. We will seek the earliest possible trial date that fairness and due process allow. We cannot comment further,” the district attorney’s office said.
Criminally negligent homicide is a state jail felony punishable by confinement in a state jail up to two years but not less than 180 days.