SAN ANTONIO – A fourth Bexar County jail inmate was charged this week in connection with the death of another inmate, court records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
Rudy Bueno, 29, is accused of violently assaulting Francisco Bazan, 46, in the Bexar County Adult Detention Center late last month.
Three other inmates, Rodrigo Martinez III, Gabriel Benjamin Garcia and Gilbert Suarez, were also charged in connection with Bazan’s death.
In addition, BCSO jailer Clemente Lopez was charged with murder late last week, after admitting to investigators to opening the door to a jail cell, allowing the April 28 assault of Bazan to take place, according to an arrest affidavit.
Bueno was Bazan’s cellmate, according to Bueno’s arrest warrant.
An unnamed inmate said Bazan owed Bueno money. Court records indicate Bueno also owed money to Bexar County Medical and another unidentified person in jail.
Bueno is accused of participating in a plan with other inmates to assault Bazan, records state.
Court records show Martinez asked Lopez to open two jail cells, including Bazan’s.
Suarez waited in the shower near Bazan’s cell, according to records.
Garcia, Martinez and Suarez entered Bazan’s cell and began fighting him, Bueno’s warrant states. Garcia, who admitted his involvement in a May 2 interview with a Texas Ranger, told the Ranger that Bueno also joined in on the assault.
Bueno denied assaulting Bazan to a Bexar County Sheriff’s Office investigator. Documents also show that Bazan told the investigator that he did not try to stop the assault of Bazan.
An unnamed inmate described hearing Bazan “yelling and later crying,” according to the warrant.
The record states the unnamed inmate saw Lopez watching the assault and laughing.
After the assault, records show the unnamed inmate said Bazan went to clean up in the shower and told him that “the assault was over $40.00, and [Bazan] had nothing to do with it.”
According to his arrest warrant, Bueno told a BCSO investigator that Bazan had been “snorting” suboxone for the week leading up to his death. The Mayo Clinic describes suboxone as a tablet ”used to treat opioid (narcotic) dependence or addiction.”
Bueno also told the investigator that Bazan “illegally” obtained suboxone from other inmates at the jail.
Bueno said Bazan last snorted a line of suboxone between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on April 29, Bueno’s warrant states. At approximately 1 a.m. on April 30, Bueno told the investigator he heard Bazan make grunting noises, “stumble” out of bed and fall twice.
In Bazan’s first fall, Bueno said Bazan hit a wall in the cell. In his second fall, Bueno told the investigator that Bazan hit his face on the cell’s toilet and sink area.
Bazan then vomited into the toilet, told Bueno he felt better and went back to sleep, according to Bueno’s arrest warrant.
At approximately 2:45 a.m., BCSO officials found Bazan unresponsive in his cell, the sheriff’s office previously said.
Medical staff was called, and life-saving measures were performed, including administering Narcan to revive him. Bazan was ultimately pronounced dead at 3:14 a.m.
An autopsy revealed Bazan’s manner of death was homicide, and he had suffered from an extensive amount of internal bleeding, according to the warrant.
Jail records show Martinez was arrested and booked into jail in December 2024 after being charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Garcia had been in jail since March after violating his parole, according to online jail records.
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