The narrative of how the death of Clayton Lamar Shennum occurred after he was jailed in Randall County Jail, Amarillo, Texas, continues here: On August 14, 2023, ambulance personnel arrived and assisted with lifesaving measures. Then they ran an EKG strip, which showed no heart activity. The time on the EKG strip showed 5:18 a.m., and that was the time he was pronounced deceased on August 14, 2023.

A 39-Year-Old Man Commits Suicide in a County Jail Outside Texas

As a precautionary measure, a 39-year-old detainee in a county jail outside Texas was placed on suicide watch. There were multiple reasons for putting him on suicide watch. He was facing a capital murder charge and he was recently released from a federal prison after having served 14 years of a 16-year sentence.

The county sheriff said that in his 36 years as sheriff, he knew of two inmates who committed suicide in the jail when they faced a capital murder charge. And this 39-year-old was the third one. In spite of these deaths, suicides in that county have been rare.

The protocol the jail follows when an inmate is on suicide watch is to check on them every 15 to 20 minutes. Those in the general population are checked every 2 to 3 hours. On September 9, 2023, the deceased had been cleared from suicide watch after seeing the office psychiatrist. The psychiatrist conducted a test to determine if the detainee had suicidal ideations or tendencies, and the inmate did not.

Not long after, on September 17, 2023, the man was discovered unresponsive in his cell. He had used strips of his bed sheets to strangle himself.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this continuing series.

Providing helpful information for detainees in county and city jails in Texas is one of the purposes of this website. There is never an intention of accusing a person or entity of wrongdoing on this site.

–Guest Contributor