Harris County Jail in Houston Texas – Inmate Dies
The Harris County Sheriff’s Department, in Houston, Texas, filed a custodial death report with the Attorney General of Texas. The report provided some information regarding the death of Keith Darien Thomas. Mr. Thomas was only 27 years old at the time of his death. Information in this post was obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone regarding Mr. Thomas’s death.
The summary portion of the report reads as follows:
“On May 23, 2020, the decedent had a medical emergency inside his cell and fell from his bunk. Medical personnel responded and transported the decedent to the clinic. The decedent was transported to LBJ Hospital for low blood pressure and subsequently to Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital. On May 28, 2020, the decedent’s condition continued to decline, and his vital organs began to fail. The decedent’s family gave consent to remove life-support, and he was pronounced deceased at 10:22 a.m.”
It appears that Mr. Thomas had been in the jail for several months. Therefore, it is unusual at best that the following questions were all answered as “unknown” in the report:
- Make suicidal statements;
- Medical treatment;
- Exhibit any mental health problems; and
- Exhibit any medical problems.
Surely, the Harris County jail knew answers to these questions after Mr. Thomas has been an inmate for several months.
Without regard to what happened to Mr. Thomas, if a person dies in a Texas jail, and the death resulted from deliberate indifference or objective unreasonableness by jailers, then those jailers, and potentially the county running the jail, can be liable to certain surviving family members for the death. These claims arise pursuant to the United States Constitution. Texas jail inmates have rights to reasonable medical care and reasonable mental health care. They cannot be ignored, and they must receive such care when needed.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone