A custodial death report filed on Justin Lee Geelan shows that the 51-year-old man died in the custody of Johnson County Jail in Cleburne, Texas, on March 18th, 2021. The medical examiner indicates on the report the preliminary belief that Mr. Geelan died from Anoxic Brain Death caused by an erratic heart rhythm.

Continuing from the last segment in this three-part series, an alarming number of deaths occurred in a brief period in the county jails in a state outside of Texas.  A report highlighting tragic death after tragic death also points out that the individuals were nearly all jailed on minor charges, such as stealing $5 worth of junk food from a convenience store.

 A 24-year-old prisoner with a history of mental illness was allegedly deprived of food and water during the four-month period before his death. Guards purportedly removed the man’s bedding and clothing. His cell walls were coated with urine and feces. The six-foot-one-inch man weighed about 90 pounds when he died from apparently having starved to death.

Reports on all of these deaths and many more home in on the fact that most who died were presumed innocent and still awaiting trial. In an alarming statistic, researchers discovered that one-third of custodial deaths studied occurred within the first three days of incarceration.

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

There is no intention on this website to make an inference of wrongdoing on the part of individuals or entities. The posts added to this site seek to provide helpful resources for the benefit of Texas county jail prisoners.

–Guest Contributor