Do the Mentally Ill in Texas Jails Get Proper Care?-7
Several Detainees with Mental Problems Commit Suicide
After the 22-year-old with psychotic tendencies stabbed a woman to death while trying to steal her vehicle at a mall, he was arrested and housed in the mental ward at a jail complex in the heart of Los Angeles. However, he was moved into the general jail population within several days. On his tenth day of incarceration, he was discovered with a bedsheet around his neck. He had used the bedsheet as a ligature to hang himself.
An 18-year-old senior who attended a high school in a large California suburb was arrested and charged with being the shooter in a shooting spree at his high school campus. Five people were wounded in the incident besides the shooter. The teen had no prior criminal record. He was jailed in the San Diego County Jail, and he faced a nearly 30-year sentence.
The young man’s parents were divorced, and he had been struggling with mental issues for years. When he took two guns and shot up the school, he had just been rejected by the Navy. He had seen the Navy as his last chance to put order into his life.
He was placed on suicide watch at the jail, and it was reported that he had previously attempted suicide on at least one occasion. Instead of keeping him under the close supervision provided to detainees on suicide watch, the teenager was removed from the suicide prevention protocol to the general jail population. The 18-year-old died after hanging himself in his cell.
Learn more in the next segment. Also see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 of this series.
Helping detainees in Texas jails is one of this website’s purposes. There is no intention of insinuating that any person or entity has been involved in unlawful activity.
–Guest Contributor
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