The family of Michael Kozletsky, who committed suicide in the Menard County Jail, has filed a lawsuit claiming proper procedures were not followed by jailers to prevent his death.
Kozletsky was arrested after crashing his semitruck on US Highway 83 in May 2020, according to the Menard County News.
He was reportedly combative with first responders, including volunteer firefighters and the responding DPS officer, and he grabbed for the officer’s firearm during the altercation, the Menard County News reported.
Upon being booking into the Menard County Jail, jailers did not complete a required suicide screening form, according to a report by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
The jail staff had also not been provided suicide prevention training since March 2018, according to the TCJS report.
Kozletsky stated he “would be dead” the following day, according to a statement by Dean Malone, an attorney representing Kozletsky’s family, but jailers opted to put him on a 30-minute watch instead of continuous monitoring.
It is unknown how many staff members were on site at the Menard County Jail at the time.
Kozletsky also was not provided with suicide-prevention clothing and was instead given standard jail clothing, Malone stated. There was also another clean set of jail clothing in the cell, along with a blanket and bedding, and two hooks for hanging towels.
Less than 24 hours after being booked, Kozletsky was found dead in his cell May 16, 2020, of an apparent suicide by hanging.
The TCJS also found the Menard County Jail to be noncompliant with minimum standards in regards to welfare checks, stating jailers were not conducting 30-minute checks as required, and they were regularly late on 60-minute checks.
The lawsuit filed by Kozletsky’s family claims his constitutional rights to reasonable medical/mental health care, to be protected, and not to be punished as a pre-trial detainee were violated.
“Our law firm sees far too jail many suicides across Texas, and Michael’s death was preventable,” Malone stated. “There is absolutely no excuse for putting a suicidal inmate into a cell, with clothing, bedding, phone cords, or other things with which the person can commit suicide by using such items as a ligature. Further, since it takes only approximately three minutes to commit suicide through use of a ligature, only continuous monitoring of suicidal inmates will result in saving lives. Jails must also comply with minimum requirements set forth by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. These requirements are meant not only to protect inmates, but also jail employees.”