Ad
Featured
Man dies at hospital after falling ill in Bernalillo County jail
Published
Modified
A man died at the hospital days after falling ill while behind bars on a pretrial detention hold at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
MDC spokesman Daniel Trujillo said 54-year-old Zeora Hercey was pronounced dead at the University of New Mexico Hospital around 6 p.m. Thursday.
“The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator will determine the official cause of death,” he said. The incident is being investigated by MDC’s Office of Professional Standards and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.
Court records show Hercey was booked into the jail Nov. 19 on an aggravated battery charge, and a judge granted a motion to keep him behind bars until trial.
His family could not be reached Friday.
On Monday, Hercey came down with “flu-like symptoms” and was brought to the facility’s medical housing for observation and treatment, Trujillo said.
Hercey was in the medical wing for two hours when UNM Hospital staff — who provide medical care at MDC — decided he needed to go to the hospital “for further evaluation,” he said.
“Hercey was transported and admitted,” Trujillo said. “Hercey, unfortunately, passed away on Thursday.”
No other details were given.
Hercey is the second person to die at the jail or die after falling ill at the facility this year, and the eighth such death there since Jan. 1, 2024.
Ad
MDC has had 34 inmates die since 2020 as it went through two for-profit medical providers before University of New Mexico Health Systems took over health care at the jail in July 2023.
