Overview

• A Galveston County grand jury indicted Skyler Ray Chapman on August 6 for criminally negligent homicide in the September Taser death of inmate Saul Vargas.
• The Texas Rangers and the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office conducted a joint investigation into the circumstances of Vargas’s in-custody death.
• Incoming Sheriff Jimmy Fullen dismissed Chapman from the sheriff’s office in January following the incident.
• The District Attorney’s Office has pledged to prosecute vigorously and pursue a swift timetable for court proceedings.
• If convicted, Chapman faces a state jail felony punishment of 180 days to two years in jail and up to $10,000 in fines under Texas law.