Man at Fort Worth prison dies from coronavirus as family fights for compassionate release
A fifth inmate died from coronavirus at the Fort Worth federal medical prison on Sunday, hours before his family planned to take him off life support.
Guadalupe Ramos, 56, died at John Peter Smith Hospital early Sunday, his niece, Veronica Chavez, said.
Ramos had been at FMC Fort Worth since September 2017, the Bureau of Prisons said in a press release. He was sentenced in October 2012 in the Western District of Texas to a 210-month sentence for distributing 1 kilogram or more of heroin.
Ramos liked BBQs, spending time with his family and dancing, his niece said. He was looking forward to meeting his grandchildren and seeing his children.
“I know my uncle committed a crime, and he served nine years for it,” Chavez said. “But when he signed for his sentence, nowhere did it say he would be signing a death sentence.”
He also had diabetes, chronic lung disease, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver and high blood pressure, Chavez said.
Ramos’ pre-existing conditions were part of why Chavez fought to have her uncle released. A public defender helped her file a motion for his compassionate release in April, and he may have been able to go home as soon as May 15, Chavez said.
However, on April 23, Ramos called his niece from the prison — he had tested positive for the coronavirus. He said he felt like he had the flu and sounded short of breath. While Ramos’ daughter and sister are his emergency contacts, the prison did not contact either of them about his diagnosis, Chavez said.
FMC Fort Worth corrections officer Gregory Watts said social workers at the prison are in charge of contacting family members when an inmate tests positive for the coronavirus.
On April 25, an inmate’s wife emailed Chavez and said Ramos had been rushed to a hospital. For two days, the family had little to no information on Ramos’ condition; at first, they did not know what hospital he had been taken to, Chavez said.
On April 27, Ramos coded for eight minutes before being revived and placed on a ventilator, Chavez said. Doctors told his family they did not know how badly his brain had been damaged. His kidneys and lungs started to fail.
Chavez and Ramos’ children contacted him by FaceTime on May 2. They did not know if he could hear them, but they told him they loved him and weren’t giving up on him.
Four days later, doctors declared Ramos brain dead. The family planned to take him off life support Sunday, and he died on his own at 5:55 a.m. Sunday.
Ramos’ three grown children lost both their parents in one week — their mother, who had cancer, died on Tuesday.
FMC Fort Worth cases
As of Sunday, 636 inmates at FMC Fort Worth had tested positive for the virus, a Tarrant County Public Health spokesman said.
Four other inmates have died at the Fort Worth prison, where the third highest number of inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus in the country.
On April 22, Arnoldo Almeida was the first inmate at the prison to die from coronavirus. Donnie Grabener, 65, died on April 25, and Oscar Ortiz, 78, died April 24.
On May 2, Kevin Ivy, 59, died within six days of being diagnosed with COVID-19.
This is the same federal prison holding Joe Maldonado-Passage, a former zoo owner more commonly known as Joe Exotic.
Maldonado-Passage, 57, is the focus of the Netflix documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” which has exploded in popularity since its March 20 release.
This story was originally published May 10, 2020 at 5:13 PM.
