Red River County Inmate Commits Suicide – Texas Rangers Investigate

The Red River County Sheriff’s Department recently filed a custodial death report with the Attorney General of Texas, regarding the death of Christopher Wayne Cabler. Mr. Cabler was 41 years of age 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. Cabler was initially incarcerated in the Red River County, Texas jail, in Clarksville, Texas, on April 16, 2019. Mr. Cabler was asked questions on the standard Texas Commission on Jail Standards-issued suicide and medical/mental/developmental impairment form. Mr. Cabler indicated that he was not thinking of killing or injuring himself on the day he was booked into the jail, and responded “no” when asked if he was feeling hopeless or had nothing to which to look forward. However, Mr. Cabler told the booking officer that he had attempted suicide two months before being booked into the jail.

One or more jailers decided to house Mr. Cabler in a single-person cell due to his past history of inflicting injury upon himself. Nineteen days later, on May 5, 2019, Mr. Cabler was discovered, during a routine cell check, hanging in his cell. Mr. Cabler had used a white towel and his jail-issued pants to commit suicide. It is uncertain why, if jailers believed that he needed to be isolated due to at least one prior self-harm incident, he was allowed to have items in his cell with which he could create a noose.

The cell in which Mr. Cabler was housed is equipped with a motion-activated camera. The camera captured the incident. There is no information in the report about whether any jailer was charged with viewing the camera on a continual basis, and/or the time period(s) between checks of Mr. Cabler.

The Texas Rangers will conduct an investigation of Mr. Cabler’s death. Also, since it occurred in a county jail, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards will likewise conduct an investigation. As a result of the Sandra Bland Act, an agency other than the agency involved in a custodial death must conduct an investigation of that 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.