Garza County Jail Death – John David Snell

The Garza County Sheriff’s Office, in Post, Texas, filed a report regarding the custodial death of John David Snell. Mr. Snell was 51 years old at the time of his death. We provide in this post information we obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“On Saturday June 24, 2023, approximately 17:00 hours, inmate John D. Snell was found unresponsive in cell 188. Sergeant Perez entered cell 188 and called inmate Snell’s name several times with getting no response from him. Sergeant Perez tried multiple times to wake inmate Snell up but was unsuccessful. Sergeant Perez exited cell 188 to call for EMS. At approximately 17:20, EMS arrives at the facility and takes control of the situation. At approximately 17:35, inmate Snell is loaded into the ambulance and taken to Covenant Hospital in Lubbock. At approximately 19:00, the Neurologist from Covenant Hospital calls Captain Copeland inquiring about a traumatic injury to the right side of inmate Snell’s brain. The Neurologist stated that it seems inmate Snell was in a fight or something. Captain Copeland stated that inmate Snell was in a detox cell by himself. At approximately 21:00, Sergeant Perez informed Captain Copeland that after reviewing the camera in cell 188, that at approximately 14:40, inmate Snell had passed out and hit his head on the wall in the cell. Sergeant Perez stated that inmate Snell called on the emergency intercom and stated he needed medicine for a headache at approximately 15:14. On Sunday June 25, 2023, the neurologist at Covenant Hospital stated that he did not think inmate Snell was going to recover for his injury and stating that his brain was swelled for too long before the surgery. At approximately 14:30, Borden County Judge signed an order to release from custody for inmate Snell so his family could take over the direction on his care. On July 12, 2023, the Medical Examiner’s Office in Lubbock, Texas informed Garza County that Mr. Snell had passed away at 15:09 that day.”

The report alleges that Mr. Snell did not exhibit any medical problems, however, it provides no information regarding how often periodic checks were made while he was in the detox cell. 

The United States Constitution requires Texas jails to protect inmates. If jailers violate a person’s constitutional rights, and that person dies as a result, then certain surviving family members may be able to file a federal constitutional rights lawsuit. Our firm is litigating a number of cases across Texas.

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.