After the Sheriff at the jail outside Texas was compelled by court orders to release jail death records, another tragic story came to light. A 33-year-old mentally ill inmate was incarcerated there and repeatedly threatened to do himself harm. A few weeks before being incarcerated, the man had cut his wrists after his wife threatened to leave him. Ultimately, the inmate succeeded in committing suicide at the jail. The internal investigation that was done following his death found that neither the jailers nor medical personnel did anything wrong.

Findings from the investigation show that the jail staff was warned on multiple occasions that the inmate had serious mental health problems. On recorded calls, the inmate’s father repeatedly warned the jail staff that his son was suicidal and in a poor state of mental health.

Jailers placed the inmate under close observation on at least two occasions after he threatened self-harm. Both times, mental health counselors allowed the inmate to be returned to the general population after he signed a safety contract in which he promised not to take his own life.

Records show that on Valentine’s Day of 2019, a rope made from a torn mattress cover was discovered in the mentally ill inmate’s cell. The inmate’s reply was that he had made the rope and planned “to go through with it.” His statement was presumed to mean that he intended to hang himself. At that time, he was placed under close observation.

See Part 1 and this ongoing series to learn more.

All posts on this website are provided as helpful resources. It is never intended in any of the site’s posts to make a suggestion of any sort that an institution or person has been involved in impropriety.

–Guest Contributor