Press Release: Smith County, Texas Jail Death

24-Year-Old Man Dies After Not Being Given Medication in Smith County Jail – Federal Lawsuit Filed

For Immediate Release

Tyler, Texas – September 9, 2024

D’Vonte Valentine was arrested by the Tyler Police Department and transported to the Smith County jail. It was immediately clear to everyone that D’Vonte was developmentally disabled and incapable of appropriately communicating his medical needs to Smith County jailers and employees working for Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC (“Turn Key Health”), the jail’s for-profit contract healthcare provider. D’Vonte had congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and he needed specific steroid medications to stay alive. D’Vonte’s family took the needed steroid medications to the Smith County jail. However, instead of either the Smith County jail or Turn Key Health assuring that needed medications were given to D’Vonte, the pill bottles were put into storage with D’Vonte’s other property. Also, no one ordered the needed steroid medications. D’Vonte thus suffered and died as a result of not receiving his medications, when the needed medications were locked away at the jail.

D’Vonte was unfortunately a victim of systemic issues in the Smith County jail. The Smith County jail has been found non-compliant by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards numerous times. Further, an outside consultant conducting an analysis of the jail came to some fairly alarming conclusions regarding a number of aspects of how the jail is run.

Constitutional rights lawyer Dean Malone represents D’Vonte’s mother and filed a federal lawsuit in Tyler. Mr. Malone said, “Far too many young people are dying across our state due to systemic problems in our county jails. D’Vonte was only 24 years old and relied on jailers and medical personnel at the Smith County jail to keep him alive. There is absolutely no excuse for not providing life-saving medications to D’Vonte when his family brought the medications to the jail. Smith County has known for years that its jail has significant problems, and yet those problems continued through the end of D’Vonte’s life. Something needs to be done.”

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.