On April 12, 2022, the Kleberg County Sheriff’s Department submitted a custodial death report (CDR) with pertinent information about the April 1, 2022, death of Cynthia Garcia. Her date of entry into Kleberg County Jail isn’t specified in the CDR, but events leading up to her death are included and it appears that she may have arrived at the jail the day before her death. She was in a padded cell due to a previous attempt at suicide, and she was discovered unresponsive shortly before she died.

Restraints

Padded “violent cells” are used in Texas county jails in attempting to prevent an inmate from hurting himself or herself. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has also approved the use of various restraints. Restraint chairs are among the approved devices. Unfortunately, restraint chairs have been linked with inmate deaths and patterns of abuse.

In a jail outside Texas, a man who was incarcerated after allegedly committing a violent act was placed in a restraint chair. The inmate was reportedly “violently mentally ill.” Video footage in the jail shows that a jailer punched the inmate in the stomach a dozen times, and then another jailer strapped the inmate into a restraint chair. Blood was trickling down his face, and a football helmet had been placed on his head.

The inmate continued to bang his head against the cell wall. No medical treatment was given. He was dead within two hours from blunt force trauma, which was ruled to be suicide.

Learn more in Part 1 and this continuing series.

There is no intention on this website to suggest that any person or institution has participated in misdeeds. The posts on this site aim to benefit inmates now or formerly incarcerated in county jails in Texas.

–Guest Contributor