Tasha Lavergne Commits Suicide in San Jacinto County, Texas Jail
The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Department, in Coldspring, Texas, filed a custodial death report with Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, regarding the death of Tasha Lavergne. Ms. Lavergne was only 32 years old at the time of her death. We provide information in this post obtained from that report.
The report provides very little information about what occurred prior to Ms. Lavergne’s death. It is also difficult to determine when she was arrested and originally incarcerated in the San Jacinto County, Texas jail. The report indicates that the date and time of Ms. Lavergne’s original custody, or the incident, was July 6, 2021 at 5:45 p.m. However, the report does not make clear as to whether this was when Ms. Lavergne was originally incarcerated in the jail, or when the incident leading to her death occurred.
The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:
“Offender was on suicide watch in Holding cell 270A for observation awaiting a Burke Center Mental Health evaluation. The offender wrapped the phone cord around her neck two times, but when someone would be in the area of the cell she would take it off and go lay down. The third time she wrapped it around her neck and leaned to put pressure on her neck. After she was found, she was laid down on the floor and CPR was started and EMS was notified. EMS was able to get a pulse on her after administering medications, and she was transported to Livingston CHI Emergency Hospital. A few days later, unsure of date due to not being in our custody, she was transferred to Lufkin CHI were she succumbed to her injuries on 07/13/2021.”
Normally, when we draft posts for this website about custodial deaths and other incidents occurring in Texas jails, we include a disclaimer indicating that we are merely providing information for the public and make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone related to the death. However, without alleging any wrongdoing against any individual person related to Ms. Lavergne’s death, there is absolutely no excuse for what occurred. As shown above, the summary indicates that Ms. Lavergne was on suicide watch. Thus, one or more people working at the jail obviously knew that Ms. Lavergne was suicidal. Knowing that she was suicidal, no jailer should have locked Ms. Lavergne into a cell with a phone cord.
Our law firm is currently handling three suicide cases occurring in Texas jails in which the person who committed suicide used a phone cord as a ligature. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards warned all Texas sheriffs and jail administrators – years ago – that telephone cords were being used to commit suicide. There is absolutely no excuse for the San Jacinto County jail placing inmates who are suicidal into jail cells with phone cords. Inmates commonly commit suicide using ligatures, and they will use whatever is available in the cell – sheets, blankets, clothing, and phone cords.
Further, while the summary is unclear about observations, the only appropriate observation for a suicidal inmate is continuous observation. It takes as few as 3-7 minutes to commit suicide using a ligature, and/or to suffer irreparable brain damage if death does not occur. The summary makes it appear as if jailers would observe Ms. Lavergne wrap the phone cord around her neck, and then remove it. If so, this is a further serious problem with the San Jacinto County jail. It is our experience as a Texas civil rights law firm that the Texas Commission on Jail Standards will conduct an investigation of Ms. Lavergne’s death. Moreover, depending on capabilities of San Jacinto County, the Texas Rangers may conduct an investigation. Likewise, it is common in many Texas counties for the district attorney’s office to investigate a county jail suicide.
The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides rights to people such as Ms. Lavergne. Those rights include the right to be protected from herself, including her suicidal tendencies, and to receive reasonable medical and/or mental health care. If Ms. Lavergne was not appropriately protected from herself, which it appears she was not, certain surviving family members may have claims related to her death. Those claims are usually included in a complaint, which is the first document used to file a federal law suit.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone