Weekend inmate found dead in Madrid youth prison
Family disputes "natural causes" autopsy verdict; regional government says youth was in an agitated state
A 19-year-old Madrid resident died last Friday at a detention center for minors in Brea de Tajo, on the outskirts of the city, the regional government confirmed Monday.
Ramón Barrios Serrano was sentenced to 12 consecutive weekends of internment for theft and criminal damage when he was a minor, suffered "several anxiety attacks and a heart stoppage," the regional government stated. The 19-year-old had reported to the privately run detention center each Friday for the past three weeks.
His mother said that he had been "very happy" after his first weekend of detention, but that during his second he exchanged "a few words over nothing" with one of the monitors at the center.
On arrival last Friday, the youngster displayed "symptoms hardly appropriate for his detention," the regional justice department said. His mother, Esther Serrano, however, told EL PAÍS her son went to the center of his own free will and that he was "calm and well." An autopsy showed no signs of external violence, the Civil Guard said, and indicated that he had died of natural causes. The family disputes this, and has requested another examination.