Zachary Daniels was booked into the Fort Bend County Jail in Richmond, Texas, on December 29, 2021. Records show that he made suicidal statements and had apparent mental health problems. Tragically, 22-year-old Zachary Daniels committed suicide in his single cell and died on February 4th, 2022.

Suicide is a risk for virtually any inmate, based on significant evidence that inmates besides those on suicide watch often take their own lives while behind bars. It is the responsibility of jails to protect inmates from harm, whether self-harm or harm caused by others.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has included suicide prevention guidelines for all county jails in the state. Records related to custodial suicides consistently show patterns that place inmates at risk for suicide.  Placing inmates in a single-occupancy cell is known to increase the possibility that an inmate will succeed in a suicide attempt. Yet, in most cases in which an inmate who is known to be at risk for suicide dies, the records show that he or she was purposefully housed in a single cell.

Supervision is a major aspect of preventing inmates from committing suicide. In this regard, TCJS requires inmates who are suicide risks to be more closely monitored than general-population inmates in the jail. Instead of being checked face-to-face by a jailer every hour, suicidal inmates must be observed face-to-face every 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the specific situation. 

In this ongoing series, learn about non-compliance in Texas county jails with regard to inmate supervision.

It is never intended within this website to make inferences of wrongdoing having occurred on the part of any person or organization. The posts on this site are intended as helpful resources of benefit to current and former inmates detained in Texas county jails.

–Guest Contributor