SAN DIEGO—A 24-year-old inmate who died after falling ill at Vista Detention Facility last summer succumbed to an accidental drug overdose, authorities reported Dec. 6.
Deputies found Ronaldino Estrada of Escondido unconscious and unresponsive in his cell at the South Melrose Drive jail on the morning of July 5, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Paramedics took Estrada to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Postmortem exams have determined that Estrada died from acute fentanyl intoxication, with high blood pressure and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease—caused by blood flow blockages due to a buildup of cholesterol plaque in the walls of arteries—as contributing factors, Lt. Thomas Seiver said.
Estrada had been jailed three days prior to his death on suspicion of DUI causing bodily injury.
