In a county jail outside of Texas, a man committed suicide on New Year’s Eve. He had tied a blanket around his neck and was discovered unresponsive at 1:58 pm.  An emergency medical services team took over life-saving efforts that were started by members of the jail’s medical staff. Minutes later, the unsuccessful efforts were discontinued, and the inmate was pronounced dead at 2:39 pm.

The fact that an inmate has a blanket, regular clothing, or a sheet that can be used for self-harm is evidence that he or she was not placed on suicide watch. Special precautions are supposed to be made if a person is known to be potentially suicidal. Jails have a responsibility to take appropriate measures to keep prisoners from committing suicide, which is the leading cause of death in jails and prisons.

Sometimes after a custodial suicide occurs, details about warning signs of potential suicide emerge. An example involves a custodial suicide that occurred in another county jail outside Texas in the summer of 2021. The 31-year-old woman who died from suicide had been arrested during a traffic stop. After her death, her husband claimed that the county jail staff knew his wife had clearly demonstrated evidence of suicide risk factors. He says that she showed signs of opiate withdrawal as well as alcohol withdrawal and suicidal ideations. 

Learn more in this ongoing series.

There is never an intention on this website to suggest that any person or organization has been involved in misdeeds. The purpose of the post on this site is to provide resources of potential help to inmates now or previously incarcerated in a county jail in Texas.

–Guest Contributor