Cresenciano Oliva
Photograph of Cresenciano, obtained from his obituary published by Valley Morning Star Obituaries.
On August 11th, 2020, Cresenciano Oliva tragically passed away. He was 77 years old. He was born in Matehuala, San Luis Potosí in Mexico and spent a large portion of his life in Harlingen, Texas, where he worked as a maintenance worker. He leaves behind his partner Eva Dones, brother Roberto, daughter Lina Garcia, sons Roberto, Javier, Carlos, and Lino, as well as a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He will be missed and remembered by many.
While incarcerated at Carrizales-Rucker Cameron County Detention Center, a jail in Olmito, TX, Cresenciano requested medical attention multiple times before succumbing to COVID-19. He had been placed in a unit with people who had tested positive for COVID-19, even though he initially tested negative. He soon developed symptoms, however. On July 10th, he requested medical help, writing, “I have a sore throat, have a cough, and my body/bones ache.” On July 21st, he requested medical attention again: “I’m having problems breathing and I don’t have an appetite throughout the day. I have sent out three sick calls. I have chest and back pains too.” In another request dated July 23rd, he wrote, “I can not jump up to the top and my knees are bad.” Weeks passed as his requests went unanswered. In his last request, he wrote, “Having trouble breathing...need nebulizer...Can I have electrolytes? Feeling really sick.”
Cresenciano’s calls for help went unnoticed. After two and a half weeks of exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, he was finally admitted to the hospital, where he tested positive for COVID-19 and passed away shortly thereafter.
His daughter Lina Garcia criticized the facility’s lacking response to her father’s requests for help, commenting to The Brownsville Herald, “These people inside this and other prisons are NOT animals - that even an animal is sometimes treated and cared for better than how these [people] are treated by prison guards, infirmary and other personnel.” Cresenciano’s family’s experience reflected the inadequate response, too; Lina told the Herald that they learned about his hospitalization and positive COVID-19 test from her father’s cellmate, not from anyone who worked at the jail itself.
Lina said that her father’s cellmate felt the injustice of his death, telling her, “Your father died and he wasn’t supposed to die. Your dad was a good man.” Lina shared his sentiment, saying to the Herald, “My father was a very gentle man. He would give you his shirt if you needed a shirt. If you needed a coat, he would take his off and give it to you. He would never say no to anybody that was in need of money, food, anything. He loved his family. He cared for his family.”
Cresenciano’s death was unnecessary and preventable. He will be remembered for his kind spirit and will be deeply missed by all who knew him. May he rest in peace.
This memorial was written by MOL team members Claire Lee and Eliza Kravitz with information from reporting by Erin Sheridan of The Brownsville Herald and an obituary from Valley Morning Star Obituaries.