Heather Kaloni Myers Dies After Being in Killeen Police Department Jail
The Killeen Police Department recently filed a death report regarding the in-custody death of Heather Kaloni Myers. Ms. Myers was only 30 years old at the time of her death. We provide information from that report, and we do not allege that anyone did anything wrong which lead to Ms. Myers’ death based on information in that report.
The report regarding Ms. Myers indicates that she was in custody in the municipal jail in Killeen, Texas. For an unknown reason, the person reporting on behalf of the Killeen Police Department to the State of Texas did not provide any information in response to the following questions/fields in the report: manner of death description, death code, custody code, code of charges, intoxicated, and medical treatment description. The report also indicates, regarding Ms. Myers exhibiting any mental health problems, “Unknown.” The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:
“On 8/13/20 at about 11:23pm Killeen Police Officer were dispatched to a report of a suspicious person near a closed business. Officers located the suspect, who was found to be intoxicated. The suspect was eventually arrested and taken to the Killeen City Jail. The suspect was booked into the jail and was placed in a cell alone. A short time later the suspect was found to be experiencing a medical event, and jail staff began to administer first aid. An ambulance was called and the suspect was taken to the hospital emergency room, where she later passed away. As of 9/14/20 autopsy results are pending, initial investigation indicates the probable cause of death to be intoxication (drug overdose) related.”
Texas prisoners in city and county jails have the right, pursuant to the United States Constitution, to receive appropriate medical care and mental health care. If a person dies as a result of a jailer’s deliberate indifference or police officers’ unreasonableness and/or deliberate indifference, then certain surviving family members might be able to file claims related to the death. Also, Texas cities and counties can be liable for such deaths if policies, practices, and/or customs led to the death. These claims are usually filed in federal court, and the federal statute allowing the bringing of such claims as 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone