Cynthia Garcia was 32 years old when she died in the custody of Kleberg County Jail in Kingsville, Texas. She had been in the jail for only one day at the time of her death. The custodial death report (CDR) indicates that the cause of Ms. Garcia’s tragic death is pending toxicology reports. The summary of how the death occurred shows that she had previously attempted suicide and was in a padded cell at the time when she was discovered to be unresponsive.

Alleged Noncompliance in the Kingsville, Texas, County Jail

Non-compliance: RULE §273.1– Regular Observation by Jailers

Rule §273.1, established by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), requires jailers to conduct face-to-face observations of at-risk inmates in intervals not to exceed every 30 minutes. This includes potentially suicidal, mentally ill, and assaultive inmates as well as those who have demonstrated bizarre behavior.

• Observation logs were reviewed for these 30-minute observation requirements. The TCJS inspector found that floor officers were not following the guidelines of minimum jail standards for the inmates who are suicidal or mentally ill, etc. Instead, the welfare checks were found to have exceeded the 30-minute timeframe by 3 minutes up to 52 minutes.

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

Implying that an individual or an institution engaged in wrongdoing is not intended on this website. The aim of posts on this site is to help inmates who are now or were previously housed in a Texas county jail.

–Guest Contributor