DENVER -- The family of a man who died at Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo says their son should not have died and that the hospital won’t give them any information about how the patient died while he was being restrained by hospital staff.

“I think they killed him,” said Rex Geske, whose 41-year-old son died last month at the hospital’s forensic unit. “I hate to say that, but why, why in the world would he be treated like that? That’s torture. That’s what it was. He was tortured to death.”

Last month, Troy Allen Geske died while being restrained face down with his hands and legs bound to the bed. After the death, the hospital banned the restraint procedures that likely contributed to Geske’s death.

“So you are saying it took a death before this state decided it was too dangerous?” CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia asked.

“I am saying that at this point the use of that restraint has been suspended,” said Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services, which runs the hospital.

After the death, a memo mandated that patients can no longer be restrained face down and a staff member must be present within arm’s length. The door to the restraint room must be left unlocked and open.

Troy Geske’s mother, Linda, said her son's death could have been prevented.

“If someone was standing at the door actually with him, I can’t help believe they wouldn’t see or hear that he is not breathing,” she said. “He didn’t have to die like an animal.”

The Pueblo District Attorney’s office is now investigating the death, issuing a search warrant for video and photos of the incident and any reports on about it. The warrant affidavit notes that face-down restraints can cause positional asphyxiation.

This is the third recent death at the Pueblo mental hospital that may have been caused by problems with patient care or lack of monitoring.

CALL7 Investigators uncovered the death of 21-year-old Josh Garcia, who died after his bowels burst from overmedication, records show. The hospital did not report the death to state health inspectors.

Also uncovered by CALL7 Investigators was the death of Sergio Taylor. He committed suicide at the hospital. The hospital conceded that hospital staff ignored key procedures that could have prevented the death.