A 44-year-old Dominican man who died less than 24 hours after being released from police custody amid an ongoing investigation has been confirmed to have died from complications of leptospirosis, according to preliminary autopsy results released by the San Cristóbal Prosecutor’s Office.
Miguel Antonio Valenzuela first entered police custody on the afternoon of July 8, when National Police officers apprehended him for running unregulated clandestine raffles using a Verifone payment terminal. Following his arrest, Valenzuela was transferred to the 17th Company Detachment holding facility in San Cristóbal, where he remained in custody for five days. His family was permitted to visit him at the detention center on July 10, and three days later, he was moved to the San Cristóbal Palace of Justice for processing ahead of his court-ordered release.
Immediately after exiting the courthouse following his release, Valenzuela told family members he was experiencing severe weakness. Concerned for his health, his relatives rushed him to the Juan Pablo Pina Regional Teaching Hospital, the main public medical facility in San Cristóbal province. Once admitted, clinical staff documented that Valenzuela developed dyspnea (difficulty breathing), a widespread body rash, petechiae (small pinpoint hemorrhages under the skin), and conjunctival hemorrhage. These severe symptoms prompted an emergency transfer to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, but Valenzuela suffered an irreversible cardiorespiratory arrest at 11:20 p.m. that same day and was pronounced dead.
The National Institute of Forensic Pathology, which was tasked with conducting an official autopsy as part of the Prosecutor’s Office mandatory investigation into the death, completed initial testing that revealed the root cause of Valenzuela’s fatal illness. Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection most commonly spread to humans through direct contact with urine from infected animals—including rodents, dogs, and livestock—or exposure to water or soil contaminated with the bacteria, was confirmed via polymerase chain reaction testing processed through the ELISA method. The test returned a positive result for the leptospirosis pathogen, which the autopsy report confirmed triggered widespread inflammation and subsequent thrombocytopenia, a dangerous drop in platelet count that contributed to his fatal organ dysfunction.
“During the autopsy exam, pathologists noted organic alterations consistent with an inflammatory pathological process linked directly to the bacterial infection,” the forensic institute’s report stated. The Ministry of Public Health also concurred with the finding, formally listing the infectious bacterial process detected via laboratory testing as the basic cause of death. The San Cristóbal Prosecutor’s Office will continue formal proceedings to review all circumstances surrounding Valenzuela’s illness and death to confirm no additional contributing factors occurred during his time in custody.