Man Dies in Custody of Angelina County, Texas Jail

The Angelina County Sheriff’s Department filed a custodial death report regarding the death of James Laverne Denmond.  The Angela County jail is in Lufkin, Texas.  Information in this post was obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing related to Mr. Denmond’s death.  Mr. Denmond was only 47 years old at the time of his death.

Mr. Denmond was in the custody of the Angelina County Sheriff’s Department, in the Lufkin jail, on January 19, 2020.  At approximately 2:57 p.m. that day, a jailer was conducting a visual observation in the Separation Hallway.  The jailer discovered Mr. Denmond sitting on the floor of the housing unit directly in front of a toilet.  The jailer called for other officers and a nurse.  The nurse responded. 

Mr. Denmond was allegedly responsive and coherent, but he said that he was weak.  The nurse began to assess Mr. Denmond but was unable to obtain a blood pressure reading.  The report reads, “Since no immediate, apparent cause for concern existed, due to this Inmate’s history of similar behavior, the officers exited the cell.”  The report does not indicate why officers exited the cell if no blood pressure reading for Mr. Denmond was obtained. A mattress was placed beside Mr. Denmond to lay on, so that he did not fall off of his bunk accidentally.

At 4:30 p.m., the same jailer was conducting cell checks.  He noticed Mr. Denmond was laying over on the mattress, with his hands drawn up in front of his chest, and his eyes rolled up into his head.  EMS were called, and Mr. Denmond was taken to a local hospital.  Mr. Denmond passed away on January 20, 2020.

Jailers and medical personnel have an obligation not to be deliberately indifferent to medical needs of people in Texas County jails.  If they are deliberately indifferent to those needs, then they may be liable to certain family members of a person who dies as a result.  Once again, we make no allegation that this occurred with regard to Mr. Denmond.  We are simply providing information regarding claims pursuant to the United States Constitution.

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.