Jail inmate murders cellmate with sock and bandana, Texas officials said

An inmate at Bexar County jail in Texas allegedly used a sock and a bandana to choke another inmate to death and has now been charged with murder, police said.

Around 11:30 a.m. Aug. 21, Curtis Raymond Smith, 66, was found face down and unresponsive in his cell, according to authorities.

At the time, two other inmates, Mark Anthony Wong, 52, and Jeremy Anthony Uriegas, 26, were also inside the cell, police said.

Police questioned the inmates and Wong voluntarily spoke to an officer and told them that Smith was “shouting out obscenities” and threatened to assault him, according to KSAT.

Uriegas was lying on the bench in the cell during this time, but Wong said he was fearful and attempted to hold down Smith on the floor. While doing that, he reached for the blue bandana around Smith’s neck and twisted it tight, officials said.

A little later, Wong said Smith was unresponsive and appeared to be dead. At that point, Wong took a sock from Uriegas and placed it in Smith’s mouth.

Jail staff was notified and tried lifesaving measures on Smith, but their efforts were not successful. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Wong was charged with murder in connection to Smith's death and his bond was set at $1 million.

Wong was in jail for a shooting that took place at his home on Aug. 20, officials said.

According to authorities, a man was staying at Wong’s home for a couple of days when Wong asked him to leave, but the man refused. This led to an argument, which escalated and Wong grabbed a shotgun and shot the man, police said.

Police found the man lying in the grass with several gunshot wounds and he was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

For that incident, Wong was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and bond was set at $100,000, officials said.