The custodial death report (CDR) about 23-year-old Trelynn Dmaun Wormley does not indicate his cause of death. However, the report does show that jailers at the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth had placed Mr. Wormley under restraint during the time leading up to his death or the events causing his death. He was restrained in leg shackles.

When an inmate has been placed in restraints, there are specific guidelines that jailers are required to follow. Basic procedures dictate that a person held in restraints must be checked every 15 minutes at the most. During this face-to-face supervision, the jailer should verify that restraints are not cutting off blood circulation to any extremities. If a restraint is too tight, the blood flow to a hand or foot could cause the person to lose the use of that extremity or the hand or foot may have to be removed.

Observations of inmates in restraints are partly for medical purposes. When inspectors with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) conduct inspections, they often find evidence of non-compliance with regard to restraints. An example follows.

Ector County Jail is Allegedly Non-Compliant with Rule §273.6(3)-Restraints

• The restraint chair logs were reviewed, and a TCJS inspector discovered that jailers exceeded the 15-minute maximum time frame for observations by 1 to 15 minutes on multiple occasions.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series.

This website purposes to provide help to municipal and county jail inmates in Texas. On this site, there is never an intention of accusing anyone or any organization of participation in wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor