ME: Oklahoma County Jail inmate died from diabetes
OKLAHOMA COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) – Officials are releasing more information about an inmate who died in the Oklahoma County Jail just days before Christmas.
The Oklahoma County Detention Center say staff responded to a call from central control to perform a welfare check on detainee 39-year-old Luis Gonzalez on Dec. 21.
When detention officers arrived, Gonzalez was not responsive.
Gonzalez was ultimately pronounced dead.
Gonzalez's mother, Sue Gonzalez, spoke with KFOR about his death.
She said that Gonzalez had Type One diabetes since he was a child and also suffered from manic bipolar disorder.
Days before his death, Sue said Louie was having a mental health episode, which impacts his ability to maintain his blood sugar.
“It makes them where he’s not thinking correctly. And with the bipolar, he surely wasn’t thinking correctly,” said Sue Gonzalez.
Two days before his death, Sue said that her son called her from the jail's medical floor.
“He told me, ‘Mom, my blood sugar was 46. They’re going to kill me if you don’t get some money on the books,’” said Sue Gonzalez. “He wanted this money so he could buy Coke, snacks and stuff to bring his sugar up when it got low.”
“By Wednesday, he had never got to spend a dime,” said Sue Gonzalez.
“He needed help and if he’s not in the hospital, the only thing there is, since there’s not mental places for him, is the jail. But, you don’t send them to the jail so they’re going to end up like this,” said Sue as she put her hands on the box containing her son’s ashes.
Now, the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office has released their report on Gonzalez's death.
The report states that Gonzalez's death was a result of diabetes, and the manner of death was natural.
The ME's full report will be released next month.