Jeanette Marie Pruitt went through intake at Galveston County Jail in Galveston, Texas, at 10:45 AM on July 2, 2023. According to the custodial death report (CDR), jail staff found her unresponsive in the holding cell the following day. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was administered immediately, and the jail medical staff was notified. First responders and emergency medical services (EMS) arrived shortly after.

Inmate Cause of Death Statistics are Inconclusive Continued

To demonstrate inconsistencies, the study on death statistics in local jails found that approximately half of the deaths due to liver disease in the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) were attributed to other illnesses in the National Center for Health Statistics’ (NCHS’) National Death Index (NDI). This included liver-related deaths caused by the hepatitis virus because of its infectious nature. Also, 11% of DCRP deaths from respiratory disease to heart disease were attributed by the NDI to:

• Cancer, 9%
• Other illness, 23%

The Recent Death of a Detainee in a Texas County Jail Involved Sepsis

When deaths are controversial, such as heat-related deaths that would indicate unsatisfactory jail conditions, the truth of the circumstances isn’t always made plain. Sepsis is a condition that indicates that medical neglect may have been a circumstance contributing to a detainee’s death. The cause of death of Ronald Tracy Bush, for example, who died on July 11, 2023, is pending the results of an autopsy. However, a diagnosis made while he was hospitalized but still in the jail’s custody lists sepsis among his serious conditions.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this continuing series.

This website has as one of its purposes to provide resources helpful to Texas inmates detained in county and city jails. There is never an intention of intimating that individuals or institutions have been involved in wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor