Mother Fights for Change After Son’s Fentanyl Overdose in Oklahoma County Jail

Sandra Cagle’s son, 37-year-old Vincent Riggie, passed away in January after fentanyl was smuggled into the facility. Two detainees face murder charges in his death.

Sunday, April 13th 2025, 4:02 pm

By: Deanne Stein

A mother is demanding change after her son died from a fentanyl overdose inside the Oklahoma County Jail.

“They need to do what's right for humanity, this is wrong,” said Sandra Cagle, about the conditions inside the Oklahoma County Detention Center.

Cagle’s son, 37-year-old Vincent Riggie, passed away in January after fentanyl was smuggled into the facility. The Oklahoma County District Attorney has filed murder charges against two inmates, Juan Enriquez and Gary Grass, accusing them of supplying Riggie with the deadly drugs. Surveillance footage reportedly shows the exchange of fentanyl-laced contraband before Riggie’s fatal overdose.

Cagle says justice is not enough. She is calling for accountability and reform within the jail, where she says drug-related deaths have become all too common.

“It’s constant over there. There’s been so many deaths in that county jail, and nobody does anything about it,” Cagle said. “Vincent told me every day was a struggle for survival in there.”

Desperate for her son to overcome his addiction, Cagle made the difficult decision not to post his bond, believing the jail would be a safer place for him.

“That’s why I left him in there, because I thought he can’t get drugs, you don’t get drugs in jail, that’s what I really thought as his mom,” Cagle said. “I thought I was doing Vincent a favor and here I was setting him up to die.”

After Riggie’s death on January 18, Cagle’s grief turned to a fight for change.

“You don’t get over it. It hurts real, real bad,” she said. “Vincent was such a good person, and he was so loved by our family and he was funny too. We so looked forward to him getting clean and being the person he used to be.”

Riggie was a son, a brother and father to 10-year-old Roman.

“The only way I’m moving forward is I know I have to for that young man,” she said. “I have to be there for him and give him the love his daddy would have given him.”

Jail officials confirmed that Riggie received life-saving measures, including Narcan, but did not survive.

In the wake of his death, Cagle is not alone in her demand for reform. On Monday, a group of victims' families, activists, and former jail employees plan to march for change at the Oklahoma County Jail ahead of the Jail Trust meeting.

“That jail is hurting families through the death of their loved ones,” Cagle said. “Just because they’re in jail, doesn’t mean they’re not loved by their families.”

The two men charged in Riggie’s murder are scheduled to appear in court on May 13.

Deanne Stein

She grew up in Yukon, Oklahoma, and received her journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. Deanne Stein became a reporter at News 9 in 2023 after working in Clarksburg and Charleston, West Virginia.