Edgar Garza was 32 years old when he was booked into Starr County Detention Center in Rio Grande City, Texas. He hung himself and was pronounced dead less than 3 hours after his admittance into the facility. According to the custodial death report, the medical cause of death was “asphyxia by hanging while under the influence of drugs.”

It seems that suicide should be highly preventable in jails because the people inside are presumably under continuous supervision. In addition, jailers are likely given training and education that advises them about suicide often occurring a short time after the entrance of an inmate into a jail. Yet, as mentioned previously, suicide kills more inmates than anything else.

In recent times, one state outside Texas, in particular, had a tremendous increase in suicides in a one-year period. Ultimately, it was discovered that 42% of jail deaths that year were caused by suicide. 

During the course of the investigation into suicides, shocking details were alluded to, including the following:

• Nearly 1 in 10 suicides happened within an inmate’s first 24 hours behind bars.
• Jails were found to be understaffed, overcrowded, or both in 76% of the suicide cases.
• Of the people who died of suicide, 82% of them had not had their day in court–they were being held pretrial.
• People who died of suicide were known as being suicidal or should have been recognized as such 20% of the time.

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

Suggesting that a person or organization has been a participant in wrongdoing is never intended on this site. Posts are added as resources of benefit to inmates held in county Texas jails, whether previously or currently incarcerated.

–Guest Contributor