The Texas Rangers have taken up an investigation into the death of Saul Vargas, a 39-year-old inmate who died in Galveston County Jail last Tuesday. Vargas had been incarcerated for eight days, facing charges of evading arrest and burglary of motor vehicles. According to Click2Houston, Sheriff Henry Trochesset stated that Vargas exhibited behavior that prompted the use of a taser by the authorities. Found unresponsive in his cell approximately half an hour later, Vargas was pronounced dead at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston after CPR failed to revive him.

In response to the tragic event, civil rights groups and Vargas's family are pressing for the release of any footage of the incident. "I just beat cancer, and he was helping me get through it," Candelaria Palacios, Vargas's wife, told Click2Houston. "They took him from me and my kids. I need him back. Why did it have to be like this?" The New Black Panther Nation has vowed to support the family in seeking justice for Vargas.

Furthermore, agitation in the community has increased in light of this being the third inmate death in the Galveston County Jail in the past year alone. National Minister of Politics Candice Matthews criticized the jail's treatment of its inmates. "We understand that people have issues when they have to go to jail and things like that. We get it. But the thing is, you’re supposed to be treating these people as human beings, okay? And that is not what’s going on here," Matthews stated in an interview with Click2Houston.

Meanwhile, the case of Vargas echoes a broader, troubling pattern within the jail; he is the fourth inmate to die this year. After spending eight days in custody, his unresponsive state after being tased raises questions that the family insists deserve answers. "He was a good guy. He was a good father. He was a good grandpa. He didn’t deserve this," Candelaria Palacios expressed to Fox26 Houston. Similarly, community activist Quanell X emphasized that the restraint measures including taser use, which were supposed to teach Vargas a lesson, led to his untimely demise. "The restraint measures were used and tasers were used, and he came up dead," said Quanell X.

As the investigation by the Texas Rangers unfolds, the calls for transparency and accountability continue to intensify.