After six inmates died within 18 months, a county jail outside of Texas came under increased scrutiny in 2018. One of the six inmates is currently in the news because his family claims that his death resulted from a lack of proper care. The man was mentally disabled, and evidence shows that he made numerous attempts to get help for suicidal thoughts.

Records show that the inmate was treated for mental health issues by the third-party health services company providing medical care at the jail. The following are among the events associated with the man’s ultimate suicide:

• Documentation shows that the inmate informed law enforcement and jail medical staff that he was having suicidal thoughts. It was noted that there had been suicide attempts in the past. The inmate was provided with medication for schizophrenia and he was placed on suicide watch. Eight hours later, the suicide watch classification was removed.
• Records show that in the days following, the inmate received a 15-minute visit from a representative for the health care company.
• Next in the timeline of events was that the inmate contacted the public defender’s office five times within one week. On each occasion, after a minute or so had passed, the inmate hung up.
• A public defender met for 15 minutes with the inmate at the end of the above-referenced week. A request was made for a competency evaluation by a doctor at a state hospital.
• Not long after, a doctor went to the jail and conducted an examination.
• A few days later, the inmate again informed the medical staff that he was entertaining thoughts of harming himself and said that voices were urging him to kill himself.
• Two days later, the inmate was found with a towel wrapped around his neck. The response from the jail was that the inmate was placed in a restraint chair in which his legs and arms were restrained.
• The documentation next shows that the medical staff put the inmate on mental health watch. He was given a suicide gown and was left in a cell with a mattress.
• The following day, the inmate was removed from suicide watch.
• A few days later the inmate made a call to his public defender. The call was two minutes long before he hung up. Less than one hour passed, and the inmate was discovered unresponsive and hanging in his cell.

Learn more about the family’s claims and information about the other deaths that occurred at that county jail within 18 months.

The posts on this site are added to help current and former Texas prisoners in city and county jails and their families. There is no intention to imply that misdeeds of any kind have occurred on the part of any institution or individual.

–Guest Contributor