Jose Viquez Dies in Dallas County Jail on 7/19/2024
Jose Manuel Viquez was booked into Dallas County Jail on July 10, 2024. Mr. Viquez died in the jail on July 19, 2024, at age 46. A custodial death report (CDR) was filed by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office on August 21, 2024, under the direction of Sheriff Marian Brown. Mr. Viquez’s cause of death is unknown, and the results of an autopsy are awaited. The CDR, however, also indicates that his death was the result of a pre-existing medical condition. On the day he was admitted, he was placed in an inmate restraint chair because he was speaking belligerently and refusing to obey or acknowledge any order given by the jail staff.
The address of Dallas County Jail is 111 West Commerce Street, Dallas, Texas 75202. The jail has a bed capacity of just over 7,000.
Illinois Jails are Scrutinized Regarding Restraint Chairs
In an investigative series, disturbing stories about the use of restraint chairs in Illinois jails are coming to light. The exposé claims that “Illinois jails use them [restraint chairs] every day.” The first story is about a detainee in a county jail being forced into a restraint chair with a black mesh hood over his head.
When officers tightened the straps like tourniquets around the 57-year-old detainee’s wrists and his ankles and chest were also restrained, he panicked. The inmate shouted that he was unable to breathe. Officers took the hood off of him, but he was forced to stay in the chair for 3.5 hours, where he was fully restrained and could not move. He felt that his blood circulation was cut off, and he lost feeling in his hands. For months afterward, numbness in his hands allegedly persisted.
A watchdog group conducted a nine-month investigation into county jails in Illinois. They discovered that, on average, restraint chairs are used on inmates more than 1,000 times per year. They discovered that the chairs are frequently used in ways that violate manufacturers’ guidelines as well as their own jail policies.
A few examples of their findings follow:
- In one county, inmates have been shocked with electricity while restrained with a stun cuff affixed to their leg.
- There is evidence that jail staff sometimes restrained people for days, often repeatedly and for as long as a week.
- After activities were exposed, the sheriff’s department in one county took fast action, such as stopping the use of stun cuffs.
Help for Jail Medical Neglect Cases: Is It Available?
Recent findings show that approximately 68% of inmates in county and city jails with chronic medical conditions do not receive adequate care during their incarceration—an alarming number. If you have suffered serious health complications due to medical neglect or other forms of neglect in a municipal or county jail, or if you have lost a loved one to such negligence in a Texas jail, we encourage you to get in touch with us. Our firm has extensive experience in handling jail neglect cases, with a team dedicated to addressing jail death cases.
If we can assist in your case, we are ready to act. Contact us 24/7 via phone, text, or our online form.
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