The only parts of a custodial death report (CDR) indicating that Bexar County Jail inmate Emmitt Earl Byrd committed suicide were a vague answer to whether the inmate suffered a pre-existing medical condition and the summary of the death. Even though Mr. Byrd was found hanging in his single cell and was pronounced dead minutes later on April 21, 2022, “unknown” is the answer to whether suicide was the means of death.

In a grim statistic, the April 2022 death of Emmitt Earl Byrd marks at least the third month in a row that a person died in the custody of Bexar County Jail in San Antonio, Texas. This is indefinite because CDRs aren’t always filed within the mandated 30 days. Daniel Maldonado died in the custody of Bexar County Jail on February 15, 2022. Ryan Adam Legg committed suicide in Bexar County Jail and died March 24, 2022. Inmate deaths in the San Antonio, Texas, jail also occurred in 2021. More details are below and in this continuing series.

Ryan Adam Legg Dies in Bexar County Jail on 3/24/22

Four days after his March 21, 2022, arrival at Bexar County Jail on, 36-year-old Ryan Adam Legg committed suicide. In the multiple-occupancy cell where he had been placed, Mr. Legg was found with a sheet tied around his neck. The sheet was secured to a light fixture. In spite of efforts to save his life, Mr. Legg died on March 24, 2022.

When Texas county jail inmates make suicidal statements at the time of booking into jail, they are usually placed in a single cell for purposes of providing increased supervision. Solitude is not considered a deterrent to suicide, however. Likely because he did not make suicidal statements, according to the CDR, Mr. Legg was placed in a cell with multiple occupants. Obviously, lack of solitude did not prevent Mr. Legg from committing suicide.

Learn more in this ongoing series.

Suppositions that persons or entities engaged in misdeeds are never intended on this website. Helping prisoners now or formerly detained in a Texas county jail is the purpose of posts on this site.

–Guest Contributor