The death of a Pima County jail inmate last month was due to a fentanyl overdose and officials are treating the incident as a homicide.
The Pima County Sheriff's Department declined to say how Pedro Xavier Martinez Palacios, 24, got the fentanyl or why the death has been classified a homicide.
On Jan. 10, shortly after 10 a.m., Palacios told a corrections officer he needed medical assistance. The corrections officer requested medical staff to respond.
Palacios was taken to the medical unit for further evaluation and it was determined he needed to be taken to a hospital, the sheriff’s department said.
On Jan. 14, Palacios died at the hospital.
Palacios was being held at the jail on outstanding warrants for drug paraphernalia and unlawful imprisonment charges.
