Attorneys, family of Levelland man who died in police custody asking for more information

The family members of Jason Lopez still live with unanswered questions nine months after his death while in police custody.

Cassandra Champion, an attorney with the Texas Civil Right Project, laid out those questions Monday morning at a news conference in front of the Hockley County Jail where Lopez, 30, lost consciousness in a cell where violent offenders are taken.

"What happened in that violent cell?" Champion asked. "Was the investigation an obligatory show?"

Anna Martinez, Lopez's mother, Yvonne Murillo, his sister, and George Murillo, his brother-in-law, sat in front of the jail, flanked by Champion and Audie Reese, a Lubbock attorney representing the family, as they spoke about their quest for closure.

Yvonne Murillo said her family just wants the truth about what happened to her brother. She also wanted people to know her brother wasn't the villain officials portrayed him to be.

"We wanted people to know he wasn't a monster," she said, as pictures of her brother were displayed in a board behind her. "He was kind, funny. He was a son and a brother who was loved very much."

Lopez died Nov. 6, three days after Levelland police arrested him for public intoxication and resisting arrest at a Stripes convenience store in the 100 block of N. College Avenue, according to a report by Texas Rangers.

Footage from the store's security camera from that night show Lopez entering the store screaming about a man with a gun.

He continues pointing out the window as he walks behind the stores counter.

At one point he hugs the cashier, who called police.

When officers arrived, Lopez tells them about the gunman and becomes frustrated when they don't believe him. They throw him to the ground when he refuses to comply.

At one point Lopez screams about his arm.

The officers are seen carrying Lopez out of the store to be loaded into a police car.

Jailhouse video shows officers carrying Lopez into a violent cell that houses combative prisoners.

However, there are no cameras pointing in the cell because of privacy concerns, according to an email Hockley County sheriff R.C. Cheek sent Champion.

The Rangers' report states while in the violent cell, officers placed Lopez face down so they could remove his clothing and the handcuffs restraining him.

Lopez was still resisting officers until his handcuffs were removed, according to the report.

Officers told the Rangers they noticed Lopez's breathing became shallow, his fingertips and toes turning blue and his complexion change.

EMS was called and Lopez was taken to Covenant Hospital at Levelland then moved to University Medical Center in Lubbock, where doctors placed him in a frozen coma.

Lopez died Nov. 6, as doctors attempted to lift the coma.

A Lubbock medical examiner determined Lopez's cause of death was excited delirium, a medical disorder typically tied to drug use, and his manner of death was homicide.

Lopez had amphetamine and methamphetamine in his blood, according to the report.

The report also states Lopez had a broken arm, puncture marks on his right hip and a tear in his liver from blunt force trauma, believed to contribute to his death.

A time frame for the injury to Lopez's liver could not be pinpointed, according to the report.

A Hockley County grand jury met on the investigation for several months and in June declined to charge three officers in the case.

Reese said there were many holes in the Rangers' investigation, including the audio recording from police body-mounted microphones that cut in and out.

"The whole story cannot be heard," he said.

He said officials tainted Lopez's image by mentioning his drug use and history of mental illness.

"Of course the grand jury couldn't indict, they had too many holes in the story, too many blank spots filled by uniformed officers and stories of drug use and criminal behavior," he said in a written statement.

He also said he believed the grand jury may not have been provided a full account of what happened to Lopez.

He said in the video, Lopez was threatened by jailers with a stun gun and said the weapon was seen brandished in the jail video.

Reese suggested the puncture marks on Lopez's hip resembled a wound from a stun gun probe.

Murillo said she wished Hockley County District Attorney Christopher Dennis asked for a thorough investigation before presenting her brother's case to the grand jury.

Dennis said the Texas Rangers investigated Lopez's death, not him.

"I don't tell them they're not done," he said.

At this point, the matter is closed, he said.

"The grand jury met and investigated this matter - literally for months - and ultimately voted to no bill the officers."

He said neither Reese nor anyone else can know what evidence was presented to the grand jury. Grand jury discussions are secret under Texas law.

"(Reese) can't know, that is to protect people," Dennis said.

He believed Reese knew to contact him if he had more evidence.

"Why wait so long and why do it in this format?" he said.

However, he said he may consider new evidence.

"I never say never but I would look at it with a skeptical eye," he said.

Tony Cowan, Levelland's police chief, said his office has surrendered all the information they have to the Texas Rangers. He said he is sympathetic with the family's loss.

"I wish I could tell you with 100 percent certainty what happened that night," he said. "We want the truth to come out just like they do."

However, he said he stands by his officers.

"They handled it the best way they could," he said.

He said two of the officers still work for his department and another officer transferred to the Hockley County Sheriff's Office for unrelated reasons.

He said he nor anyone in his department has contacted the family since the incident.

He acknowledged one of his officers may have broken Lopez's arm as they tried to subdue him.

But as far as Lopez's other injuries, that remains unexplained but said finding out what Lopez's actions prior to the incident at Stripes may shed light on them.

Champion said authorities have not provided her a requested stun-gun record, which could show if one was used the night Lopez lost consciousness.

"It's been a little bit of a tug-of-war," she said.

However, an email from Cheek states stun guns were issued to deputies, not jail officers, but said a record indicates a stun gun was used in the field.

Champion and Reese said they do not plan to bring a lawsuit in this matter.

However, that may change if information they are requesting is not provided, Reese said.

Anna Martinez, Lopez's mother, said she only wants closure in her son's death.

Champion she hopes Lopez's case brings about policy changes in how law enforcement deals with mental health issues as well as video policies in detention centers.

He said his officers go through training that addresses mental health issues.

"I have an officer certified to teach that," he said. "We have addressed that."

But he said more training wouldn't hurt.

"I would support any credible training you could get in that area," he said.

Murillo said she hopes the investigation into her brother's death will protect other families from a similar tragedy.

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