EDINBURG — The Texas Juvenile Justice Department said the teen who died Saturday after being found unresponsive Friday at the Evins Regional Juvenile Center was a 16-year-old boy from Nueces County.
As per the confidentiality clause under the Texas Family Code, TJJD cannot release the juvenile’s name to the public, said Brian Sweany, the agency’s communications director.
Suicide has not been ruled out as a cause of death, according to Sweany, and the Hidalgo County medical examiner has yet to confirm the teen’s cause of death.
The agency must complete its investigation report within 30 days of the incident, at which point it will be sent to the Texas Office of the Attorney General for review.
The facility is one of TJJD’s five secure facilities, housing mostly juveniles who have committed a felony-level crime. It currently houses 103 juvenile offenders, and according to TJJD records dating back to 1999, this is the first death at the facility, Sweany said.
