LOS FRESNOS, TEXAS -- Ignaica Medellin is trying her best to enjoy the pleasant Los Fresnos weather on Tuesday.
But her mind is somewhere else these days after a chilling phone call on her birthday from her son about his jail cell being on fire.
As she looks at a picture of her 39-year-old son, she wonders whether he was injured in the riot at the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos,Texas.
Her son has been an inmate for the past 10 years but expected to be released in September.
Medellin says she last spoke to her son on Sunday and he told her that they were being held outdoors in a yard until the riot could be controlled.
He said he was very cold, but that he was okay.
This riot has been the second in as many months and Medellin says her son had alleged the inmates were rebelling because of the lack of medical attention they received in the private prison.
Medellin acknowledges that her son should be held responsible for whatever crime he committed, but that he,nor the other inmates should be treated like animals.
Now she'll just wait to hear from him since she says she doesn't have the means to go see for herself that he is not hurt.
The GEO Group, the company that runs the low security federal prison, says the riot has ended without serious injuries.
They did report damage to the facility, but stated that there were no threats to the public.
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