\u201cI think he was experiencing depression and hopelessness,\u201d Cardenas\u2019 cousin Melissa said shortly after his death. \u201cWhat person in their right mind wouldn\u2019t want to leave jail? If he\u2019s telling you, \u2018I feel unsafe leaving,\u2019 call someone over to help him. Take him to the mental health facility.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at a recent press conference that when booked into the jail on July 6, Cardenas underwent a standard medical screening. \u201cThis 38-question process revealed no major physical or mental health issues,\u201d Gonzalez said. <\/p>\n
The jail surveillance video doesn\u2019t include audio of what was being said between Cardenas and officers who appeared to try to subdue him so he could exit the facility. Cardenas was pinned to the ground for about seven minutes when officers realized he was unresponsive, the video shows. <\/p>\n
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A video released by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office shows Alexis Cardenas struggling with officers in what his family says was a mental health crisis.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n \n Cardenas\u2019 cousin Lizette Medrano said no one asked the family\u2019s permission before releasing the \u201chorrific video of Alexis\u2019 murder at the hands of HCSO staff\u201d on YouTube. Cardenas left behind a wife and four children ranging in age from 5 to 14. <\/p>\n \u201cWe feel that Alexis has been stripped of his dignity even in death. He did not deserve this, and his family and young children do not deserve this. We find HCSO\u2019s decision deeply deplorable and unforgivable,\u201d Medrano said in a family statement, which is published in its entirety at the bottom of this story. <\/p>\n \u201cWe condemn HCSO\u2019s actions in the strongest terms possible,\u201d the statement continues. \u201cEspecially 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Twelve in-custody deaths<\/a> have been reported so far this year by Harris County, including three in a 48-hour period in June. There were 10 in-custody deaths in 2024. <\/p>\n Cardenas was taken to jail on July 6 after he approached a Houston police officer in a parking lot and said he feared for his life. His family says the interaction was a cry for help and he should have been taken to a hospital. <\/p>\n But the officer ran his identification and found that he had an outstanding misdemeanor \u201cfailure to appear\u201d warrant related to a traffic ticket from several years ago. According to family members, the arresting officer drove Cardenas to leave his car keys with Cardenas\u2019 wife before taking him to jail. That was the last time his wife saw him alive. <\/p>\n Krish Gundu, cofounder and executive director of the Texas Jail Project<\/a>, said no one has explained why Cardenas was being released around midnight.\u00a0It\u2019s against state law and local policy to release inmates between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., Gundu said. It appeared from the video that he was asking for help with his phone. He may have been concerned about how he was going to get home, she said. <\/p>\n “People are forgetting the context in which he was arrested and the context in which he was released,” Gundu said. “He was the one who stopped law enforcement to ask for help because he thought someone was out to get him. He didn’t get any help in the jail in the 30-something hours he was there. And they’re releasing him at midnight.” <\/p>\n “Is he asking for help to charge [his phone] or to make a phone call?” she continued. “How was he going to get home? People are like, ‘Why wouldn’t he just leave?’ Hello, it’s midnight. He was still in crisis because he never got any help. He was still thinking someone was out to get him, maybe, and you’re kicking out this guy in that frame of mind, with a non-working phone at midnight.”<\/p>\n At the August 1 press conference<\/a>, Sheriff Gonzalez said that Cardenas\u2019 cause of death is pending autopsy by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. Authorities have said the video shows that an officer pointed a Taser at Cardenas but it didn\u2019t appear to be functional. <\/p>\n The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident that led to the death, and the Harris County District Attorney\u2019s Office is also reviewing the matter and could present the case to a grand jury. An internal affairs investigation is underway to confirm compliance with all relevant policies. It is the department\u2019s policy to release relevant video footage of critical incidents within 45 days, Gonzalez said. <\/p>\n The sheriff said as a result of last month\u2019s incident, he temporarily reassigned one sergeant and six detention officers to \u201cduties that do not entail contact with inmates until we have a more complete picture of what happened.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt would be improper to comment on the facts of the case before those investigations have concluded,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cWhile the video provides important insight into the moments before Mr. Cardenas\u2019 death, I urge folks to please be mindful that we will not have a complete understanding of all the relevant facts until the investigations are complete.\u201d <\/p>\n Gonzalez offered condolences to Cardenas\u2019 family but did not join them last week when they watched the video about an hour before it was released to the public. <\/p>\n \u201cEvery life is sacred and that\u2019s true for each and every one of the nearly 9,000 people entrusted into our custody on any given day,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cAs sheriff, I am extremely concerned any time a life is lost. I also recognize that our detention officers are hardworking public servants who are frequently called upon to deal with extremely challenging situations that come with operating the largest jail in Texas.\u201d <\/p>\n
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About 78 percent of those housed at the Harris County Jail have a “mental health indicator,” according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.<\/p>\n
Photo by April Towery
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