Galveston County jail officer accused of fatally kneeling on inmates neck

GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A now-terminated Galveston County Jail Officer, accused of fatally kneeling on an inmate's neck, has been indicted by a Grand Jury on a criminally negligent homicide charge.

The charge comes after a nearly year-long Texas Rangers investigation into the death of 39-year-old inmate Saul Vargas.

"He was broken, and he was trying to heal from what he was going through," his wife, Candelaria Palacios, said while crying. "When we make mistakes, that's where we go. And I wanted him; I expected him to come back. I didn't think he was ever going to come back."

Palacios told ABC13 that when her husband was booked into the Galveston County Jail in September 2024, accused of evading arrest and burglary, she trusted deputies there would help him.

"I told him, 'Just get in there. Think about what you want to do in life. Think about us. Think about our kids, our future, and let's fix this.' And he said, 'OK.' He said, 'I'm going to fix it,'" Palacios said.

Eight days after Saul Vargas was booked into jail, Palacios was called to the hospital, where she said her husband lay brain dead, covered in vomit and taser marks.

Saul Vargas' death certificate shows he died from asphyxia caused by compression to his neck. Yet, for nearly a year, his family said they received little information about his death.

Palacios, who temporarily lost her voice to throat cancer, enlisted relatives to help her press officials for answers.

"We're his voice," she explained.

Last week, the family said they were notified that Skyler Chapman was indicted for criminally negligent homicide. Court documents accuse him of kneeling on Saul Vargas' neck.

"The justice center is cruel," his sister, Priscilla Vargas, said. "People go to jail and they have to serve their time, I understand they do things that they're not supposed to do. But, as a person in jail, you're not to be treated as an animal. These officers are supposed to protect and serve these people."

Documents show Chapman was booked into and released from the Galveston County Jail on $20,000 bond Tuesday.

If convicted, a press release from the Galveston County District Attorney's Office states he will spend a maximum of two years in jail.

"He was loved. And there are two years, two years, for life? Two years is not enough. It's not. They took him from us. He can't even see his grandbabies. He won't see our son graduate. He won't see our granddaughters start kindergarten. He's gone," Palacios said.

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