As Nicholas Whatley Jr. was parked and sitting in a vehicle in the Texas panhandle, a deputy who was helping the Potter County Sheriff’s Department approached him in response to a dispatch stating that the car was being operated by an intoxicated driver. A second Carson County Sheriff’s Office Deputy arrived on the scene to assist, and Mr. Whatley was arrested on Public Intoxication charges. Mr. Whatley was booked into the Carson County Jail at 6:02 AM, had a seizure shortly after being observed at 7:45 AM, and was pronounced deceased at a hospital at 10:00 AM.

A Potter County Jail Inmate Dies After Being Held in Restraints in the Amarillo, Texas, Detention Center continued

Forty-seven-year-old Genaro Rocha was booked into Potter County Jail in Amarillo, Texas, on July 21, 2019. The booking officer indicated that Mr. Rocha did not appear intoxicated, did not exhibit mental or medical health problems, nor did he make suicidal statements. However, notes in the custodial death report (CDR) summarizing how Mr. Rocha’s August 4, 2019, death occurred indicate that on August 3 he had been placed in an isolation cell for behaving bizarrely, and he had defecated in the cell. Jailers removed him from the cell in order to clean it, and he was being escorted to the medical unit when he became violent and resistive.

The CDR narrative next says that officers put Mr. Rocha into a restraint device at 10:10 PM and placed him in holding cell 184 for observation. The protocol for Mr. Rocha’s supervision was to observe him in intervals not to exceed every 15 minutes. Observations continued, and notes indicate he was okay during that time.

See Part 1 and in this continuing series, learn further details about Mr. Rocha’s death and three other Potter County Jail inmates who died in the jail’s custody.  

The intent of this website is to provide resources helpful to municipal and county jail inmates in Texas. Linking an individual or institution to misdeeds in an accusatory manner is never intended on this website.

–Guest Contributor