The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office has completed their autopsy investigation related to the death of Joseph Castiglione, age 56 who was found unresponsive at the Vista Detention Facility on February 7, and subsequently passed away at a local hospital.
The Medical Examiner’s Office has determined the cause of death to be acute methamphetamine toxicity and the manner of death to be accidental. Evidence was found at autopsy indicating he ingested a large amount of methamphetamine wrapped in plastic. As Mr. Castiglione had only been in custody eight hours at the time he went into medical distress, he may have ingested it prior to his arrest.
Information from February 7 release:
This morning (February 7, 2019) just before 8:45 a.m., deputies at the Vista Detention Facility were performing a security check in a holding area when inmates in a holding cell knocked on the window to get the deputies attention. Deputies looked inside the cell and saw an inmate in apparent medical distress. The man did not appear injured, but soon after the deputies entered the cell to help the 56-year-old man, he became unresponsive. CPR was initiated and the man was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased at about 9:52 a.m. The man was in custody for possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and a violation of his terms of parole. The Sheriff’s Homicide Unit responded to investigate the death.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death and notify the victim’s family. The Sheriff’s Homicide Unit responds to investigate all in-custody deaths. Our response is not an indication of foul play or suspicious circumstances. The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Unit at (858) 258-6330/after hours at (858) 565-5200. You can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
