So far this year, the Bexar County Jail has recorded four deaths. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Bexar County

A Bexar County jailer is behind bars over allegations that he allowed inmates into the cell of another prisoner, whom they subsequently beat to death, multiple news outlets report, citing a Texas Rangers investigation.

Deputy Clemente Lopez Jr., 20, was arrested last week and charged with murder after admitting to investigators that he opened the jail cell of Francisco Bazan, 46, allowing him to be assaulted, according to KSAT. Bexar County Jail inmates Rudy Bueno, Gilbert Suarez, Rodrigo Martinez III and Gabriel Benjamin Garcia also were charged with first-degree murder in relation to the incident, the Express-News reports.

All five men are being held on $500,000 bond, court records show.

Bazan’s death occurred April 28 in a housing unit designated for inmates affiliated with criminal gangs, the Express-News reports. Martinez allegedly orchestrated the attack on Bazan over a $40 debt, according to the article.

Lopez admitted to opening Bazan’s cell for the attackers and enabling at least three similar assaults over recent months, the daily reports, citing investigators. The jailer watched the beating from outside the cell and laughed, according to case details cited by the paper.

“I wanted to look [Lopez] in the eye and tell him exactly how disgusted I was with his behavior, and I did so,” Bexar County Sheriff Salazar told KSAT. “He was apologetic, of course, but unfortunately, to me, that was very little consolation for what he put this agency through and this family that has been put through this horrible, unimaginable tragedy of losing a loved one.”

Bazon, whose body wasn’t found until two days later, suffered multiple rib fractures, a punctured spleen and died of substantial blood loss, according to an autopsy obtained by the Express-News.

Lopez is the fifth Bexar County Sheriff’s Office deputy to be arrested this year, KSAT reports. Meanwhile, Bazan’s death is the fourth at the Bexar County Jail in 2025.

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This article appears in Apr 30 – May 13, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...