SAN ANTONIO — A man originally jailed and accused of shooting a man at his home is now charged with murder, accused of strangling another man who was sharing his Bexar County jail cell.
52-year-old Mark Anthony Wong, who was first booked for a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the shooting incident has now been charged with murder related to the alleged attack at the jail.
An arrest affidavit prepared by the Texas Ranger investigating a custodial death inside the jail says 66-year-old Curtis Raymond Smith died after he was assaulted in a holding cell in the jail's booking area.
The arrest document details how deputies checking on inmates found Smith face down on the floor and unresponsive. The affidavit says when deputies rolled Smith over to help him, they found a sock shoved in his mouth.
In spite of efforts to save Smith, he was pronounced deceased at 12:08 p.m.
The affidavit says Wong waived his Miranda warning rights and agreed to talk about the incident and went on to claim that Smith appeared to be mentally ill and was shouting obscenities.
Wong told the investigator he used a bandana Smith had on his neck to strangle him because he believed Smith was going to sexually assault him.
The affidavit by the Ranger states "I asked Wong if Smith ever tried to rape him, touch him, or harm him and he stated no."
Wong also said another inmate in the cell at the time of the assault did nothing to intervene. The Bexar County Medical Examiner has yet to rule on the cause and manner of Smith's death.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office saying in a statement the Texas Rangers and BCSO Internal Affairs immediately launched an investigation in accordance with the Sandra Bland Act.