A combination of drugs, an irregular heartbeat and restraint led to the death of Alexis Cardenas, who became unresponsive after struggling with jailers at the Harris County Jail in July, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Cardenas’ manner of death was classified as a homicide by the institute, which listed his primary cause of death as cardiac dysrhythmia associated with acute toxic effects of methamphetamine, cocaine, chlordiazepoxide and ethanol during physical and electrical restraint.
Cardenas died July 8 following an altercation with detention officers who were attempting to escort him out of the jail. Detention officers Tased, repeatedly punched and pinned Cardenas to the ground before they discovered he was unconscious, a 17-minute-long video of the altercation released by the sheriff’s office showed…