09 Oct Reports Filed on Two Randall County Jail Deaths

The Randall County Sheriff’s Department has submitted reports to the Texas Attorney General on the deaths of two jail inmates, one in August and one in September. Both list the cause as pending autopsy.

Shaylee Rachels, 28

Around 6:48 a.m. Aug. 7, jail staff came upon Rachels in her cell, unresponsive, according to the report dated Sept. 21. Staff began CPR and called EMS, which took her to Northwest Texas Hospital. She was pronounced dead at about 8:11 a.m.

Rachels had been in custody since July 28, and the report lists robbery as the most serious offense tied to her case.

Texas Ranger Scott Swick is investigating. An autopsy was scheduled for Aug. 10 in Lubbock, and the report records both the manner and cause of death as awaiting those results. It also says investigators couldn’t determine whether an existing medical condition contributed.

William Ocanas, 59

Ocanas was moved from the Potter County Detention Center and booked into the Randall County Jail on Sept. 1 on a federal charge, the report says. Around 8:45 a.m. Sept. 10, jail staff drove him to Northwest Texas Hospital because of foot sores, ongoing pain and low blood pressure. His records noted several health conditions, among them diabetes and high blood pressure.

He remained under the hospital’s care all day. At about 6:58 p.m., jail administrators were told he had become unresponsive and that CPR had begun. Efforts to revive him continued until he was pronounced dead at 10:51 p.m.

The report, dated Oct. 2, puts the manner of death down as natural, with the medical cause awaiting autopsy, and it attributes the death to a condition he already had. Swick was notified, and an in-custody death investigation is underway.

Autopsy results for both inmates are pending.