Man who was deemed incompetent to stand trial dies in custody at Travis County Jail

Correctional officers found an inmate of the Travis County Jail dead in his cell on Wednesday, according to the Travis County sheriff's office.

Authorities attempted to resuscitate 63-year-old Robert Valentino Munguia after they found him unresponsive just before 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, according to a news release sent Thursday evening, but those attempts were unsuccessful.

Munguia was arrested Nov. 26, 2023, and charged with injury to an elderly individual, a third-degree felony, court records show. Charging documents show that Munguia reportedly pushed his 72-year-old roommate out of his wheelchair and then punched him "approximately 30 times" in the face and stomach.

In February, an evaluation by a doctor found that Munguia was not competent to stand trial and ordered that he be committed to a hospital for up to 90 days. Munguia was set to have another hearing on June 17.

Citing the open investigation, sheriff's office spokesperson Kristen Dark said she could not provide any more information about the circumstances surrounding Munguia's death.

Melissa Shearer, director of the mental health division of the Travis County public defender's office, said Munguia had not been transferred to a hospital since being deemed incompetent to stand trial. This isn't unusual, she said.

Shearer said the Travis County Jail currently has a waitlist of up to a year for 131 people who have been deemed incompetent to stand trial and are waiting to be sent to a hospital. In the meantime, they stay in jail. Shearer said people charged with misdemeanors are often released from jail before they can get to a hospital because they time out on their charges.

The state hospitals that take in people deemed incompetent to stand trial in Travis County are also overburdened, Shearer said. It has been a few years since she saw someone get admitted into the Austin State Hospital from the Travis County Jail.

"This population is so vulnerable," Shearer said. "Dying early and alone in the jail instead of getting the appropriate mental health and medical attention — it's one of the results ... (of) our community's commonplace, unconscionable neglect of people with complex needs that don't have adequate support and resources."

Investigations are underway by the internal affairs unit and the criminal investigations division of the sheriff's office along with the Texas Rangers. An autopsy is being performed by the Travis County medical examiner's office.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Man in custody at Travis County Jail dies; investigation underway