Follow-up on Post Regarding Suicide in Washington County, Texas Jail

We posted yesterday regarding the suicide of Cameron James Pritchett in the Washington County, Texas jail. We also noted that the Washington County Sheriff’s department had filed a number of custodial death reports with the Attorney General of Texas over the last several years. Some of those deaths related to use of force, and some related to medical issues.

One such report was regarding the death of Charla Glene Mikeska. Information following is from that report.

Ms. Mikeska was only 33 years of age at the time of her death, and the summary description in the custodial death report regarding her death describes an unusual set of events.

Ms. Mikeska was arrested and booked into the Washington County, Texas jail on October 16, 2017. She was then taken to Scott and White Medical Center in Brenham, Texas with abdominal pain. After being treated by emergency department personnel, she was returned to the Washington County jail.

Three days later – on October 19, 2017 – Washington County EMS was called to the jail due to Ms. Mikeska being unconscious. EMS provided care and stabilized Ms. Mikeska. She was then transported to Scott and White Medical Center in College Station, Texas. Washington County then released her from custody.

It is not uncommon for Texas counties to release inmates from custody when those inmates need medical care. Counties at times do so to save having to pay for such medical care. We are uncertain if this was the reason for Ms. Mikeska’s release from custody on October 19, 2019.

On October 27, 2017, at approximately 1:25 a.m., Ms. Mikeska was pronounced deceased by a justice of the peace in Brazos County, Texas. An autopsy was conducted by the Travis County medical examiner. The final autopsy report listed both the cause of death and manner of death as “undetermined.”

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.