The number of assaults that occurred in Harris County detention facilities between January 2018 and September 2021 is more than double the total in other large urban jails. Overcrowding is cited as one of the reasons for heightened violence. These assault numbers include the ones that occurred in the 701 San Jacinto Street location as well as 711 San Jacinto Street, 1200 Baker Street, and 1307 Baker Street. These Houston, Texas, addresses have a 77002 zip code and are listed as part of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Few of the assaults that have occurred in Harris County Jail in recent years have resulted in in-custody deaths caused by violence. There were, however, 20 such deaths in the above-referenced time frame.

One of the custodial deaths that happened in a Houston jail occurred in November 2020. A 19-year-old special needs man who was 5-foot-8-inches tall and weighed 98 pounds was beaten and stabbed to death. The individual who allegedly killed him was more than twice his size and they were in the same holding cell.

In August 2020, a disabled veteran was incarcerated and suffered from a serious assault in a Harris County jail. On his first night there, he returned from taking a shower to find five fellow inmates waiting for him. They beat him up and took his shoes and his commissary.

See Part 1, Part 2, and this continuing series.

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–Guest Contributor