Report: Inmate Died of an Overdose

SAN ANTONIO, TX — Last month 41-year-old Eric McCuiston was found unresponsive in his cell at the Bexar County Jail. Nearly two months later the Bexar County Medical Examiner confirmed McCuiston died of a methamphetamine overdose on July 5.

According to county records, McCuiston was booked on the Fourth of July for an out of county warrant from Nueces County for possession of a controlled substance.

A facility report obtained by local media outlets indicates that two inmates who were tasked with serving meals discovered McCuiston. 

“Hey boss, I think we have a dead body,” stated one of the inmates to the detention officer responsible for the report.

The officer explains in the report that he ran to McCuiston's cell located on an upstairs floor and found him unresponsive in the fetal position.

The officer would then attempt to “initiate a Code One Blue via a hand held radio, but it had no charge.”

Unable to call for help over the radio, the officer ran downstairs and activated the alert that would initiate an emergency medical response.

According to the report, McCuiston was okay when the reporting officer checked on him two hours earlier.

At the time of his death, McCuiston was held at an intake medical isolation unit.  The unit housed inmates who had pending COVID-19 tests after being booked into the Adult Detention Center.

“Due to the ongoing death investigation, we are not able to elaborate on specifics for this case however, preliminarily, it appears that all checks were conducted within the allotted time frame as mandated by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). This was substantiated by written reports and technology,” said Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.

On Friday the medical examiner’s report classified the death as an accident due to methamphetamine toxicity.