After campus police arrested an 18-year-old college student from Culpeper, Virginia, he was found dead in a jail cell.
Freshman at Radford University, Aris Eduardo Lobo-Perez died on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019.
According to the Radford University Police Department, Lobo-Perez was arrested and taken to the New River Valley Regional Jail at 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday.
He was charged with swearing in public and public intoxication, according to Superintendent Gregory P. Winston in a press release.
Thursday morning, at 7:50 a.m., jail officers were making routine checks and found Lobo-Perez unresponsive in his cell. Emergency Medical Services were called. They pronounced him dead at the scene.
Lobo-Perez’s body was taken to the Roanoke medical examiner’s office. Virginia State Police are in charge of the investigation.
Dixiana Perez, Lobo-Perez’s mother told News4, “I have a lot of pain. I just want to know what happened to my baby.”
On Saturday, friends and family held a yard sale to raise money for his funeral. A GoFundMe page has also been set up for the family.
According to a spokesperson for the university, Lobo-Perez was studying sports management.
Friends of the teenager said that he was often bright and witty.
“He was a funny guy. He always loved to have fun. His laugh, his jokes, everything about him was just really good and it was a good vibe,” according to Joey Fernandez.
The school sent a statement to students, faculty, and staff about his death. Additionally, they had grief counselors on site available to talk.
By Jeanette Smith
Source:
NBC Washington: Radford University Student From Culpeper Dies in Virginia Jail
Image Courtesy of elntern’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License