Man Commits Suicide in Midland County, Texas Jail

The Midland County Sheriff’s Department recently sent to the Attorney General of Texas a custodial death report regarding the death of Christopher Beau Duboise. Mr. Duboise was only 36 years old at the time of his death. Information in this post was obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

Mr. Duboise was originally incarcerated at the Midland County, Texas jail at approximately 9:00 p.m. on May 23, 2019. He was arrested for public intoxication. Mr. Duboise was on a stool in the booking area and subsequently allegedly attacked another prisoner who was being received into the jail. Mr. Duboise was then restrained by officers and presumably  put into a holding cell.

Mr. Duboise originally refused to answer suicide screening questions and was put on a mental health check. At approximately 9:55 p.m., a jail officer was able to obtain answers for Mr. Duboise to the suicide screening questions. Mr. Duboise was then moved to DETOX-D in the holding area. The same officer allegedly checked Mr. Duboise periodically.

The report indicates that the jail officer had a face-to-face check of Mr. Duboise at 9:55 p.m. This seems to conflict with the 9:55 p.m. time given at which Mr. Duboise answered suicide screening questions. Suicide screening questions are included in a form which the Texas Commission on Jail Standards requires that all county jails in Texas use at the time of intake. Regardless, the report indicates that the officer conducted her next check of Mr. Duboise 17 minutes later – at 10:12 p.m. The officer noticed that Mr. Duboise was in the back of his cell with a shirt tied around his neck and attached to a handicap bar. The officer entered the cell and called a medical emergency. Another officer who arrived at the scene administered CPR.

EMS was notified and arrived at the jail. CPR was continued, and Mr. Duboise was transferred to Midland Memorial Hospital. Midland County Detention Center discharged Mr. Duboise from custody once he reached the hospital. It is common for counties in Texas to discharge prisoners who are injured and/or need serious medical care, so that they can avoid paying for the medical care. On May 25, 2019, at 9:45 p.m., Justice of the Peace Cobose pronounced Mr. Duboise as being deceased. Based on our law firm’s experience handing these cases, the Texas Rangers will likely conduct an investigation.

The 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the rights of pre-trial detainees to reasonable medical care and mental health care. Those rights include the right to a pre-trial detainee, or prisoner, to be protected from self-harm. If jailers and/or a county violate the United States Constitution, they can be liable to family members of a deceased prisoner pursuant to a federal statue. Such claims are typically filed in federal court.

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.