Inmate dies in apparent suicide (Austin Statesman)

Inmate dies in apparent suicide
TRAVIS COUNTY
COMPILED FROM STAFF REPORTS

Updated: 12:50 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010

A corrections officer making his rounds found an inmate hanged with part of his blanket Tuesday night, the same day immigration agents discovered that he had been jailed under an assumed name and was wanted for murder in South Texas, according to the Travis County sheriff's office.

The officer discovered Dante Uresti, 25 about 11:30 p.m. and called for medical assistance, but Uresti was pronounced dead at 12:12 a.m., the sheriff's office said.

Uresti was jailed Oct. 3 on a drunken driving charge and multiple traffic warrants, the sheriff's office said. Uresti had a detainer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and on Tuesday he was released into their custody, the sheriff's office said.

"ICE Agents checked their fingerprint files and found that Mr. Uresti was actually Gilberto Rubio-Turrubiates ... and he had a warrant from Hidalgo County for murder," the sheriff's office said. "The agents returned him to the Travis County Jail where he was awaiting extradition to Hidalgo County."

The medical examiner's office did not find any indication of injuries other than self-strangulation, the sheriff's office said, but a cause of death will not be released until a final autopsy report is complete.

This is the sixth jail death in custody reported this year by the Travis County sheriff's office.