18-YEAR-OLD DIES IN CUSTODY OF LAREDO POLICE

LAREDO - Authorities are investigating the death of an 18-year-old man who
was found unconscious Thursday inside a booking room of the Laredo Police
Department. Police spokesman Juan Rivera said it appeared that Erick Carl
Monroy of Laredo attempted to hang himself using a belt.

He said Monroy was in the process of being booked on a felony drug charge
accusing him of possessing cocaine at a local high school.

Webb County Justice of the Peace Oscar Martinez pronounced Monroy dead at
5:55 p.m. at Mercy Hospital of Laredo.

Investigators with the department's Crimes Against Persons and the Office
of Public Integrity were questioning booking officers and reviewing video
from a surveillance camera to help determine how Monroy died.

An autopsy was also ordered.

"There's only one blind spot where the bathroom is," Rivera said. "Every
booking room has a toilet, and there is a small wall so they can have some
privacy."

He said Monroy's body was found behind the wall, and authorities believe he
may have either sat or stood on the toilet to hang himself.

Rivera said investigators are awaiting autopsy results to find out if
Monroy was intoxicated at the time of his arrest.

He said authorities don't remove a person's belongings, such as wallets,
shoes and belts, until they are booked into the Webb County Jail. Rivera
said suspects taken to the Police Department are only held temporarily
inside the station's booking rooms until they are questioned and then
transferred to the county jail.

Thursday's death was the first such incident in which someone appeared to
hang himself inside the electronically monitored facility, built in 1996,
Rivera said.

The last time someone died in custody of the Laredo Police Department was
two years ago, and Rivera said it was due to an overdose.