A Bexar County, Texas, Deputy Intervenes in an Inmate Suicide Attempt
On Thursday, October 19, 2017, a deputy with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department intervened and prevented an inmate from succeeding in a suicide attempt. Authorities say that the deputy discovered the 28-year-old inmate in a bathroom stall in the booking area of Bexar County Jail. The inmate was trying to hang himself. He received medical attention and was transported to a nearby hospital. Details about his condition have not been updated.
Earlier this month, on October 3, a 36-year-old inmate at Bexar County Jail died from apparent suicide, according to authorities. The man was incarcerated on an alleged murder charge. A few days later, a 53-year-old inmate at the same jail was discovered dead. Preliminary reports suggested that he died of natural causes.
In less than one month in the summer of 2016, four inmates at the Bexar County Jail committed suicide; and another committed suicide in December.
Bexar County isn’t the only place where jail suicide statistics are alarming. A 2014 study showed that jail suicides are on the rise across the nation, even though they are largely preventable. Since at least the year 2000, more inmates committed suicide in 2014 than any other year. The jail death rate was 140 deaths for every 100,000 inmates. In 2014, an average of more than one inmate died daily, at 372 jail suicides total.
Investigative journalists began logging jail fatalities following the death of Sandra Bland, who died in Waller County Jail in Texas on July 13, 2015. More than 800 deaths were documented. Data revealed at least 15 facilities in which inmates died at double the average rate.
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