Man Dies in Custody of Aransas County Jail in Rockport, Texas

       The Aransas County Sheriff’s Department, in Rockport, Texas, filed a custodial death report with the Attorney General of Texas regarding the death of Thomas S. Kitchens.  Mr. Kitchens was 66 years old at the time of his death.  We make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone regarding Mr. Kitchens’ death but instead are simply providing information.

       On October 26, 2019, Mr. Kitchens was arrested by the Texas Department of Public Safety for driving while intoxicated in Aransas County.  He was then transported to the Aransas County Detention Center. At approximately 9:35 p.m., he was received in jail intake. 

       At 9:43 p.m., after telling one or more jailers that he needed medications, and that he had pre-existing medical conditions, Mr. Kitchens was provided with a telephone to call an unknown person to bring his medications.  Three minutes later, he was placed into a holding cell.

       At approximately 4:28 a.m. the next day, Mr. Kitchens was provided breakfast.  At approximately 4:40 a.m., he was brought out to be fingerprinted.  At approximately 4:55 a.m., he was placed into a cell and then ultimately allowed to make phone calls using the inmate telephone system. 

       At 6:58 a.m., Mr. Kitchens was authorized to make a phone call to attempt to have someone to bring his medications.  At approximately 7:05 a.m., Mr. Kitchens was moved to a general population cell along with seven other inmates who were already in the same cell.  At approximately 8:22 a.m., Mr. Kitchens was found unresponsive when officers entered the cell block.  The report does not indicate whether periodic face-to-face observations were being made.  Mr. Kitchens was ultimately pronounced deceased by a justice of the peace at 9:01 a.m. 

       The report indicates that preliminary results from the Nueces County Medical Examiner indicated that Mr. Kitchens was found to have scar tissue from a previous heart attack and signs from a recent heart attack and kidney damage.  The report regarding Mr. Kitchens’ death was not file for several months after his death.  This is a violation of Texas law, requiring a custodial death report to be filed no later than 30 days after a custodial death.

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.