Autopsy Reveals 22-year-old Daniel Martinez Died from Suicide in Potter County Jail in Amarillo, Texas
On Tuesday, May 1, 2018, 22-year-old Daniel Martinez died from suicide caused by self-asphyxia, according to an autopsy performed at the request of Potter County Justice of the Peace. Martinez had been a prisoner at Potter County Detention Center in Amarillo, Texas. He was pronounced dead at the jail. The Texas Rangers are handling the investigation, and the Texas Commission on Jail Standards will also investigate the circumstances surrounding the custodial death.
When minimum jail standards are met in a county jail, all prisoners are screened at intake. If a prisoner is observed or known to be potentially suicidal and/or mentally disabled, the staff is required to promptly notify the magistrate for the purpose of making mental health officials available, as needed.
In addition, prisoners at risk for suicide in a holding cell as well as those confined in a detoxification cell are supposed to be observed by facility personnel at intervals not to exceed every 30 minutes. However, even this interval is not often enough. Upon examining documents and related surveillance videos, determinations are sometimes made that a jail did not follow through with procedures to achieve minimum jail standards.
For example, a jail inspection report was released for San Patricio County Jail in January 2018. In it, the jail is cited because jail staff allegedly exceeded the 30-minute maximum interval for face-to-face observation of assaultive, possibly suicidal, and mentally ill prisoners. In fact, the jail staff consistently exceeded the half-hour observations, according to findings of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
Research studies show that jail suicides happen far too frequently, and the matter has become a huge concern about n Texas. Various entities have begun to take action, such as Bexar County. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has appointed a Bexar County Detention Mental Evaluation Team, which got to work immediately on trying to prevent prisoners from committing suicide. On April 28, 2018, two prisoners in separate incidents attempted suicide in Bexar County Jail, and deputies intervened in both instances, perhaps due to new procedures. One of the prisoners was released after a health evaluation. The other may still be struggling for his life; there haven’t been any further updates since the initial report.
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