Press Release: Young Man Dies by Suicide in Smith County Jail – Federal Lawsuit Filed

Young Man Dies by Suicide in Smith County Jail – Federal Lawsuit Filed

For Immediate Release

Tyler, Texas – October 9, 2024

Nathan Johns was arrested at the psychiatric unit of the Tyler Hospital and transported to the Smith County jail. Nathan had attempted suicide in the hospital before transport, and he remained actively suicidal after arriving at the Smith County jail. There were a number of mental health medications Nathan should have received while being incarcerated in the jail. However, it appears he did not receive most, if not all, of those medications.

Nathan was put on suicide watch and incarcerated in a cell alone. However, inexplicably, a rolling telephone was left just outside his cell door. The phone had a very lengthy cord, possibly 30-50 feet long. Nathan was able to pull the cord into his cell and use it as a ligature to die by suicide.

Nathan 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 alarming conclusions regarding a number of aspects of how the jail is run.

Constitutional rights lawyer Dean Malone represents Nathan’s mother and filed a federal lawsuit in Tyler. Mr. Malone said, “Every competent jailer and every competent medical person working in a county jail knows that the greatest cause of death in county jails is suicide. There was no doubt to anyone working at the jail that Nathan would attempt suicide without appropriate treatment and medication. It is beyond belief that his needed mental health medications were not secured and/or administered, and it is further beyond belief that he would be supplied a lengthy cord with which to make a ligature. This, added to the fact that when Nathan’s family picked up his belongings after his death, a bag of medications taken by a police officer to the jail was still stapled shut, makes one wonder what it will take for the Smith County jail to fix its serious issues.”

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.