Another Inmate Commits Suicide in the Lubbock County, Texas Jail

The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, in Lubbock, Texas, filed a custodial death report with the Attorney General of Texas regarding the death of Keegan Allen Cloud.  Mr. Cloud was only 23 years old at the time of his death.  We provide in this post information which our law firm obtained from thar report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone regarding Mr. Cloud’s death. Even so, the report was filed long after the County was legally-required to file it.

The report, which is only 2 pages, provides very little information.  The report indicates that Mr. Cloud did not make any suicidal statements, had not been receiving medical treatment, did not exhibit any medical problems, and did not exhibit any mental health problems. 

Even so, the report indicates that, on April 28, 2020, at 12:20 p.m., a jail officer conducted a security check.  The jailer found Mr. Cloud to be unresponsive with ligature around his neck.  EMS responded and transported Mr. Cloud to a local hospital.  Unfortunately, Mr. Cloud was deceased.

The United States Constitution guarantees the right of pretrial detainees to receive reasonable mental health care.  It also guarantees that, if Texas county jailers know of suicidal tendencies and/or serious mental health issues of an inmate, and those jailers act deliberately indifferently or unreasonably regarding those known issues, and a person commits suicide, then certain surviving family members might have claims against those jailers, and their county-employer, as a result.  These claims are brought through 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and they are for violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

With regard to Mr. Cloud, the report does not note whether he was on close observation due to any prior issues.  The report seems to indicate that he was originally placed into custody on January 2, 2020, and therefore was likely an inmate at the Lubbock County jail for nearly four months at the time of his purported suicide. 

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.