Officer Allows Vicious Attack on Inmate, FBI Investigating
Inmate Jumped by Group of Inmates
Deputy Jean Camacho-Morales was fired and arrested after the assault of an inmate in the Bexar County Jail, on Monday, was investigated. A 44-year old inmate was jumped by six other inmates in the shower section of their living unit. The inmate suffered serious injuries including “several facial fractures, damaged vertebras and was unable to breath on his own.”
Deputy Complicit in Attack
The San Antonio branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with the Sheriff’s Office, reviewed the video from the unit and discovered discrepancies in the account given by Deputy Camacho-Morales.
According to MySanAntonio.com,
“At around 4 p.m. Monday, Camacho-Morales said he found the 44-year-old inmate brutally beaten in the shower of one of the living units and immediately called for assistance.”
Investigators feel that Camacho-Morales had advance knowledge that the attack was going to happen. The article doesn’t say anything more on that. We don’t know if it’s speculation or if something on the video made it obvious that Camacho-Morales knew what was planned. What we do know that investigators discovered is that Camacho-Morales tried to keep the cameras from being able to record the attack by turning off the lights for the shower area.
From the video, they also know that he did NOT call for assistance “immediately.” Instead, he left the inmate lying in his own blood on the shower floor while the attackers tried to clean up any evidence. It was approximately 30 minutes before Camacho-Morales called for assistance.
And lastly, again, from the video, they know that Camacho-Morales lied to protect the attackers. The people he pointed out as the attackers were actually the inmates who had tried to help the man who was being beaten.
Why Did this Happen?
It is currently being speculated that this was a gang attack. But why would Camacho-Morales, an officer with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, have allowed this to happen? It’s been known for a long time that gangs try to get people into law enforcement to help cover for them (White supremacists do this too). Could that be what is happening here? Did he infiltrate the Sheriff’s Office on behalf of a gang?
Or could it be that he just didn’t like the inmate who was beaten and though he couldn’t do it himself, he was more than willing to allow others to do it? If this is the case then the man is ignorant of Texas law. In Texas, you don’t have to have physically assaulted an individual to be complicit in the crime.
We don’t know the answers yet of why he did this. Maybe we won’t ever know. Maybe he’ll claim innocence all the way to prison. What we do know is that he has been charged with “official oppression, tampering with government records and aggravated assault with substantial bodily harm, a second degree felony.” His bond was set at $25,000.
MySanAntonio.com had the best article on this story which is why we have multiple links to it in our post, but if you want to read how other news agencies reported on it, here’s the KSAT 12 article and the NBCNews article.