Sudden Death Associated with Restraint

The death of a 51-year-old inmate in a Texas county jail was associated with restraint and also provides a glimpse into dealing with mental health struggles while imprisoned. The man described various medications he was taking upon being booked into jail, and the custodial death report suggests that he did not receive those particular medications nor did he seem to receive regular doses of medication.

In the event just before his death, the mentally ill inmate was removed from his jail cell after standing on a table and defecating on himself. He was being moved a distance of about 30 feet into a cell the jailers thought would be safer, but his behavior was combative. One of the jailer’s drive-stun tased him in the buttocks three times in order to gain the inmate’s compliance.

A short time later, it was reported that the man was banging his head on shower walls and behaving incoherently. It was decided to apply a body WRAP restraint for his safety. Five jail staff members entered the man’s cell to apply the restraint device. He was combative and was again tased three to four times.

One of the jailers mentioned that the inmate’s body temperature seemed very high. The jailers finished the process of placing the inmate in the WRAP device. At that point, the inmate grunted, stopped fighting, went limp, fell over, and struck his head on the cell floor. The man’s eyes were open, but he wasn’t blinking. He also had a heartbeat but did not seem to be breathing.

Jailers called for an ambulance, and the inmate was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Restraint was listed as a contributing cause of death.

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 of this continuing series.

This site’s posts are intended to help Texas inmates. It is not intended to imply that wrongs have occurred on the part of a person or entity.

–Guest Contributor