An inmate held at the Bexar County Jail for nearly half a year on a low level misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge died this month after suffering an apparent medical episode, BCSO officials conceded Friday.
Derrick Ellison, 47, died in the emergency room at University Hospital on Dec. 5, hours after a detention officer found him in his jail cell having trouble breathing.
Ellison is at least the third inmate since 2018 to die in custody while being held on a low bond for criminal trespassing.Dotson-Stephens, who suffered from mental health issues, died in December 2018, five months after she was charged with criminal trespassing. Her bond had been set at $300.that was ordered months before her death.
Ellison was arrested twice in four months this year, first in late February on a felony charge of assault against a security officer causing injury and then in late June for refusing to leave the property of an East Side convenience store. An hour later, Ellison returned to the lobby of the hospital and punched the guard with a closed fist, according to an SAPD arrest report.
Prior to his arrest, Ellison was seen laying at the front door and was being “rude and aggressive with customers coming into the store,” the SAPD report states.He was given a court-appointed attorney on June 27, and a psychological evaluation was ordered for Ellison on Aug. 16, case files revealed Friday.
Ellison’s court-appointed attorney, Matthew Brown, told KSAT via telephone he was not told his client passed away until Wednesday and only learned about it then due to “sheer happenstance.”
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