Bexar County Jail inmate dies after ingesting meth, BCSO says

Julian Dena, 34, died Thursday at Baptist Medical Center

Dillon Collier, Investigative Reporter

Fares Sabawi, Digital Journalist

David Ibañez, Web - Managing Editor

Published: July 30, 2020 at 4:33 PM

SAN ANTONIO – A 34-year-old Bexar County Jail inmate has died after he was hospitalized for ingesting drugs.

Julian Dena died at Baptist Medical Center on Thursday afternoon after his family decided to take him off life support, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office officials said.

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Dena was being booked into the jail Monday when a deputy searching the inmate found him chewing on a substance that was later determined to be methamphetamine. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

The sheriff’s office said Dena’s death will be investigated as a custodial death.

“As per standard procedure, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division (CID), Internal Affairs (IA), and the Public Integrity Unit (PIU) are conducting an investigation into this death,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Dena was arrested on a warrant for being a felon in possession of a firearm.