INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY FOLLOWING INMATE DEATH AT MONTFORD UNIT

(AUSTIN) -- The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) offers the following information on the death of Montford Unit inmate Joe Lino Ortiz.

At approximately 11:30 p.m. on April 30, 2004, 30-year-old Patrick Womack advised correctional officers that he had killed his cell mate, 42-year-old Joe Ortiz. Staff responded and found Ortiz in the cell covered up. He had been tied with a cloth, which was removed and CPR initiated. The unit physician entered the cell area and pronounced Ortiz dead at approximately 11:45 p.m.

The preliminary cause of Ortiz’s death is strangulation. The TDCJ Office of Inspector General is investigating the incident, and no other details are available at this time.

TDCJ received offender Ortiz from Midland County on March 20, 1997, to serve a maximum sentence of 25 years for Aggravated Sexual Assault, Burglary of a Motor Vehicle, and Robbery With Threat of Death. Offender Womack was received from Liberty County on April 10, 1992, to serve a life sentence for three counts of Burglary of a Habitat, two counts of Forgery, Delivery of a Controlled Substance, and Escape. Both Ortiz and Womack are listed as mental health custody offenders.

The Montford Unit, located at 8602 Peach Street in Lubbock, Texas, houses mental health and minimum-level inmates (trusty camp); it is also a medical facility for all levels of offenders.