Kaufman County, Texas Inmate Dies After Being in Holding Cell

Christy Slayton recently passed away after being in the Kaufman County Jail.  Ms. Slayton was only 30 years old at the time.  The Kaufman County Sheriff’s Department, in Texas, recently filed a custodial death report with Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas.  Information in this post was obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone regarding Ms. Slayton’s death.

The report is not well-written, regarding details, so some times and dates are uncertain.  The report indicates that the time of custody or incident was 12:17 p.m. on September 10, 2019.  The report does not make clear as to whether this was the time of the occurrence leading to Ms. Slayton’s death, or the time she was initially incarcerated in the jail.

Ms. Slayton was found unresponsive in a holding cell.  The report does not indicate whether Ms. Slayton was on constant observation, or whether periodic checks were being made as required by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

Detention officers initiated CPR.  Ms. Slayton was then transported via ambulance to a local hospital, and ultimately via helicopter to Dallas Presbyterian Hospital.  Ms. Slayton was on life support until September 12, 2019.  She then passed away at 1:31 p.m. on September 14, 2019. 

An autopsy was conducted.  Moreover, it is our experience in handling constitutional rights cases in Texas related to jail deaths that the Texas Rangers will also likely conduct an investigation.  However, a Texas Rangers investigation is conducted regarding only any potential criminal activity regarding an inmate’s death.  A Texas Rangers investigation does not determine whether any constitutional violations occurred.

Without regard to what happened to Ms. Slayton, generally, people who are arrested and put into Texas County jails have constitutional rights.  The primary rights arise from the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  Those rights guarantee a pre-trial detainee to not have jailers act in a deliberately indifferent manner, or unreasonably, regarding a prisoner’s medical issues and/or mental health issues.  If a jailer’s actions, or a county’s policy, practice, and/or custom, result in the death of a prisoner, they can be held liable in a Texas federal court to certain surviving family members. 

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.