Johnny Charles Bradley Dies in Rusk County Jail

The Rusk County Sheriff’s Department, in Henderson, Texas, filed a report regarding the custodial death of Johnny Charles Bradley. Mr. Bradley was 61 years old at the time of his death. We provide in this post information we obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“Mr. Bradley had been in the Rusk County jail since February 15, 2023, after being indicted on two felony charges for violent conduct while armed with a handgun. Mr. Bradley was believed to be hypertensive but consistently refused medication and medical treatment. Mr. Bradley was believed to be mentally ill and was on the “Clearing House List” (#826.) Mr. Bradley had a history of mental health issues and has demonstrated behaviors suggesting that he was indeed mentally ill. On the afternoon of July 23, 2023, while in his single person cell, Mr. Bradley was found unresponsive on his bed by RCSO jail staff. CPR was administered by jail staff and an ambulance was summoned. Mr. Bradley was transported by ambulance from the RCSO jail to the emergency room at UT Health in Henderson where he was eventually pronounced deceased at 5:15 p.m. on July 23, 2023.”

The report indicates that the cause of death in Mr. Bradley’s preliminary autopsy report was cardiovascular disease/heart attack.

The 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees that those incarcerated in our Texas county jails receive reasonable mental health care. If jailers or others fail to provide medical care to those in custody, and a person dies as a result, then certain surviving family members may be able to file a lawsuit. Our Texas jail abuse and neglect law firm is representing a number of families across Texas for such claims.

The situation involving Mr. Bradley unfortunately resembles the situation in far too many cases across Texas. Jails continue housing severely mentally ill people in jails rather than mental health treatment centers. This can be inhumane, depending on the circumstances, and our jails need to do better.

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.