Suicide by Jail Inmate in Lubbock, Texas
The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, in Lubbock, Texas, filed a custodial death report with Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, regarding the death of Jordan Wade Woolf. Mr. Woolf was only 29 years old at the time of his death. We provide in this post information obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone regarding Mr. Woolf’s death.
On December 6, 2019, at approximately 12:11 a.m., Mr. Woolf was discovered in Pod 1A, Cell 218. Pod 1A is a maximum security general population housing unit containing single and two-person multiple occupancy cells. Mr. Woolf did not have a cellmate assigned at the time. Mr. Woolf was found hanging from a ligature that was attached to the top bunk, and he was unresponsive.
The first officers to respond initiated CPR. Medical personnel then appeared and continued CPR. EMS transported Mr. Woolf to a local hospital, and he was pronounced deceased at 1:10 a.m.
The report indicates that Mr. Woolf did not make any suicidal statements. However, the report does indicate that Mr. Woolf exhibited multiple health problems and medical problems.
Without regard to what occurred to Mr. Woolf, the United States Constitution guarantees the right of pretrial detainees to be protected from themselves and others. When the actions of a Texas jailer, or the policy, practice, and/or custom of a Texas county, results in the death of a prisoner, when the prisoner should have been protected, then the jailer and/or county can be liable to certain surviving family members. Such cases are usually filed in a federal court in one of the four federal districts in Texas and asserted pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone