Justin Michael Henderson was in the custody of Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, when he died at the age of 35 on February 4th, 2021. A custodial death report was filed by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, and it reflects that Mr. Henderson was incarcerated on December 9, 2020. The report also shows that he died from the toxic effects of heroin.

The following are more of the reasons that the suicide death rates in jails and prisons are higher than in the general public on a consistent basis:

In some custodial settings, policies and procedures for the identification and management of suicidal inmates are lacking in formality. Even if there is screening to identify indicators that an inmate is at high risk, there are inadequate methods for monitoring the distress levels of prisoners. As a result, the likelihood of detecting acute risk is minimal.

When appropriate procedures and policies for the detection of suicide risks are in place, early warning signs of an inmate being suicidal may be missed because of personnel who are overworked or untrained in healthcare and mental health.

Correctional settings are often isolated from community programs of mental health so that there is little to no access to mental health treatment or professionals.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

The posts on this website are meant as helpful resources to benefit Texas inmates in county jails in the state. There is no intent on this site to imply that any individuals or organizations have participated in improprieties.

 –Guest Contributor