Hanging death Rangers await autopsy results ODESSA AMERICAN March 11, 2008 - 6:31PM

Texas Rangers are waiting on autopsy results to determine the exactly what killed an inmate Sunday at the Ector County Correctional Center in Odessa.

The facility is owned by Civigenics, a private institution with corporate offices in Waco.

Texas Ranger Sgt. Jesse Valdez said the correctional staff discovered 21-year-old Luis Chavez-Chavez, in the early morning hours Sunday, hanging in the jail. Chavez-Chavez was a citizen of Mexico.

"He was being detained for a federal charge of illegal entry and held by the U.S. Marshal service," Valdez said.

Chavez-Chavez was taken to Medical Center Hospital and later pronounced dead, Valdez said.

The body was sent to Tarrant County for autopsy. Valdez was present Tuesday for the autopsy.

"I haven't received the initial pre-autopsy reports," Valdez said. "It was supposed to be faxed to me and hasn't arrived."

Notation: People Against Prison Abuse was informed by Federal Inmates that the man was dead when they laid him on the floor because they heard that last swosh of life expell out of his body. He was dead before they took him to the hospital. He was 21 years old, being held for illegal entry in the Federal Holding Facilities in Odessa, TX