by SEAN KIMMONS
A Hays County jail inmate went into cardiac arrest soon after he was arrested on drug charges, and later died at Central Texas Medical Center Friday morning, authorities say.
Chance Roy Donnelly, 32, of San Marcos, was arrested around 3:30 a.m. on two counts of possession of a controlled substance at the Whataburger, located near the intersection of Texas 123 and IH-35, San Marcos Police Chief Howard Williams said Monday.
San Marcos police officers took Donnelly, who had .2 grams of cocaine and four pills of oxycontin on him, to the jail but he was refused admittance. The officers then transported Donnelly to CTMC, where he was medically cleared, Williams said.
At about 6:20 a.m., Donnelly was booked into the jail. Three hours later, he went into cardiac arrest and was transported back to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 10:20 a.m., authorities say.
It’s still unclear what caused the death of Donnelly, who had a history of drug, assault and theft charges, among other charges.
“He was medically cleared with the hospital but later dies,” Williams said. “We’ll basically have to wait until the autopsy report comes out to know the cause of death.”
Both the Hays County Sheriff’s Office and San Marcos police are investigating the incident.
Earlier this year, Hays County paid a $245,000 settlement to the family of Torrey Smith, a 31-year-old inmate who died from sickle cell anemia while in custody at the Hays County Jail in 2008.
A Hays County Sheriff’s Office medic, who had received information on Smith’s disease, claimed that Smith was fine and faking his symptoms during his six-day stay at the jail.
A 1997 San Marcos High School graduate, Donnelly attended all of his school years in San Marcos, where he played football and pole vaulted. Donnelly worked as a dental sales representative. He is survived by his wife Margaret and daughter Kimberly.
Funeral services took place Wednesday at the Thomason Funeral Home in San Marcos. Contributions may be made to the Chance Roy Donnelly Memorial Fund at Wells Fargo for his daughter Kimberly.
