Kris 6 News: DYING FOR HELP: Falfurrias woman dies while in custody of Kleberg County Sheriff’s Office
March 30, 2024
Cyntha Garcia died in 2022 while in the custody of the Kleberg County Sheriff's Office and just over 24 hours after her mother called 9-1-1 for help. Court records show…
Topics: 2024news, Custody Death, Mental Health
Cyntha Garcia died in 2022 while in the custody of the Kleberg County Sheriff’s Office and just over 24 hours after her mother called 9-1-1 for help.
Court records show Garcia’s mother called for help after the 32-year-old woman overdosed on medication used to treat her schizophrenia. The Falfurrias resident was taken by ambulance to Christus Spohn Hospital Kleberg.
“Every single institution failed her,” said Krish Gundu, co-founder of the Texas Jail Project, a non-profit that advocates for people in county jails.
Body camera and surveillance video that when Garcia arrived at the jail, transported by a Kingsville Police Officer, she appeared to be barely conscious. That officer indicated this was not an uncommon occurrence.
She is unable to fully respond, walk, or exit the car on her own as a jailer yells and others stand by and laugh.
“Allowing someone to die when in someone’s custody, that’s the whole point of being in somebody’s custody, it means you’re fully responsible for them. And allowing someone to die, I mean, in my opinion, that’s still a murder.”