Jared Jon Bell was booked into Travis County Jail in Austin, Texas, at 11:27 PM on February 7, 2022. He made suicidal statements and, yet, was left alone with a phone cord long enough to use as a ligature. Tragically, he died by suicide on February 9th, 2022.

As mentioned previously, Travis County Jail has an impressive record of compliance with the minimum jail standards. Sadly, keeping up to code hasn’t equated to preventing custodial deaths. Stories about numerous custodial deaths in Travis County Jail have been published on this website just in 2021 and so far in 2022 alone. The following are two examples, with more to follow in this series.

Nicholas Orion Vanwyhe

Nicholas Orion Vanwyhe hanged himself using his bedsheet while incarcerated in Travis County Jail. The custodial death report on Mr. Vanwyhe shows that he made suicidal statements. Such statements are supposed to operate like red flags that call for suicide prevention measures. Yet, he had a bedsheet that he was able to use as a ligature to commit suicide. Mr. Vanwyhe was 39 years old at the time of his April 30, 2021, custodial suicide.

Christopher Luis Delarosa

Christopher Luis Delarosa was booked into Travis County Jail on July 6, 2021, and died the next day. The custodial death report shows that the cause of death is pending a toxicology report and an autopsy. In the meantime, the cause of death is listed as apparent natural causes.

See Part 1, Part 2, and this continuing series.

Making inferences that wrongdoing has occurred on the part of persons or entities is never intended on this site. The posts on this website are meant as resources beneficial to inmates now or previously housed in a county jail in Texas.

–Guest Contributor