Mecklenburg sheriff won’t discuss jail death amid investigations, office says
A spokesperson for Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden said the sheriff’s office will not comment on a jail death because several investigations are underway.
The Charlotte Observer’s news partner, WSOC, reported on Wednesday that 38-year-old murder suspect Miguel Angel Gonzales-Rosales died in August after jail staff gave him the wrong medicine.
An autopsy found that he was given someone else’s methadone dose when he should have received medicine for bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder, according to WSOC’s reporting.
The sheriff’s office declined to share any information when contacted by the Observer, including about general policies or any policy review that might take place.
“Whenever there is an in-custody death at the detention center, there are multiple and parallel investigations into the nature and circumstances of the event, performed by a variety of agencies including the State Bureau of Investigations, the Department of Health and Human Services/Jail Inspector, and internally by MCSO’s Office of Professional Compliance,” spokesperson Bradley Smith said in an email.
It’s the sheriff’s office’s policy not to comment at all “so as not to influence, or even to give the unintended appearance of influencing those investigations,” Smith said.
Gonzales-Rosales was charged with killing and desecrating a woman, his neighbor, on Easter in 2023. A forensic psychologist previously found him incapable to proceed in his case and said he likely had an intellectual disability. A judge ordered that he should take part in a capacity restoration program at the jail.
The news of his death came as McFadden formally announced that he is running for reelection.
It also came after another inmate’s death on Sunday. Fifty-one-year-old Sandi Hill died from a medical emergency, according to the sheriff’s office.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 2:58 PM.