Inmate Who Died Had Received Treatment
A 46-year-old inmate died after complaining of heartburn as he was walking to his cell in the medical isolation section of the Orange County Jail, officials said Thursday.
Robert Gomez was returning to his cell at 4:05 a.m. Tuesday after receiving medication for heartburn when he suddenly stopped and told another inmate he did not feel well, said Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Hector Rivera. Gomez then slumped over unconscious, Rivera said.
When other inmates nearby shouted for help, nurses and deputies responded and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Gomez until paramedics arrived. He was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he was pronounced dead at 5:15 a.m.
Because of a fainting spell in November and subsequent shortness of breath and chest pains, Gomez was being held in the medical isolation section of the jail, where he was serving a one-year sentence on a narcotics conviction.
An autopsy is being done, but results are not expected for several weeks, Rivera said.
The Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating, which Rivera said is standard procedure when inmates die.
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