Is Jail Neglect a Widespread Problem in Texas?-Pt.2
A Detainee Dies in Horrific Conditions Continued
The 35-year-old detainee had been placed in the psychiatric wing of the jail, and shocking photos reveal that that man’s face and body were covered in insects. His cell was infested with bed bugs and lice. One headline about this story states the man was “eaten alive” by bed bugs.
An independent autopsy found that the cause of death was “Complications due to severe neglect,” and “Untreated decompensated schizophrenia” was a contributing cause. The report further states that the detainee suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia due to a combination of malnutrition, dehydration, and rapid weight loss, complicated by untreated decompensated schizophrenia. The jail failed to provide the man with sufficient food, necessary medical care, or adequate water and shelter. All these things led the person conducting the independent autopsy to list “homicide” as the manner of death.
The most disturbing aspect of the man’s situation at the jail was the fact that an “innumerable number of insects” were all over his body. Also, his hands, feet, fingernails, and toenails were filthy. The man’s last dose of prescribed medications was issued 32 days before his death. The Fulton County Sheriff publicly stated the man’s tragic death was “absolutely unconscionable.”
Another fact considered wholly unacceptable is that most people who die while in a local county or municipal jail have not been adjudicated.
Learn more in Part 1 and this continuing series.
Providing municipal and county jail detainees in Texas with helpful resources is one of this website’s purposes. Suggesting that a person or entity has engaged in wrongdoing is never intended.
–Guest Contributor
smchugh
smchugh