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Smith County, Texas Jail Inmate Commits Suicide

A Smith County Jail detainee, Carlos Jose Hernandez, Jr., committed suicide in the jail shortly after midnight today.  Mr. Hernandez apparently hung himself in his cell.

The Smith County Sheriff indicated that the Texas Rangers were notified of the death.  He also said that, after checking the jail’s observation logs, as well as video recordings, appropriate cell observations were made.  Mr. Hernandez had been booked into the jail at approximately 4:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 11, 2017.

It is not the intent of this post to allege that anything improper occurred related Mr. Hernandez’s death.  Instead, this post is to shed light on a continued problem nationwide – suicide or attempted suicide of detainees.  Hopefully, the recently-enacted Sandra Bland Act will help in curbing the problem.

 

Written By: author avatar Dean Malone
author avatar 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.
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