A woman previously mentioned who died four days before her court hearing was one of many inmates who died at a certain county jail in a state with a high rate of custodial deaths. Between 2013 and 2017, 71 people died in various city and county jails in that state. More than half of the deaths were suicides.

A week after this woman’s death, a 21-year-old woman had been going through heroin withdrawals and was discovered dead in her cell. The cause of her death was ruled severe dehydration that brought on a probable cardiac arrhythmia. In four days, the young woman lost 17 pounds. Having been arrested on drug charges, records show that she repeatedly had diarrhea, vomited, and at times was in too weak a condition to stand.

The attorney general’s office in that state charged the nurse at the jail with negligent homicide with regard to the 21-year-old. The reasoning cited for the charge includes that the nurse did not take the young woman’s vital signs, did not perform other tests, and did not contact the physician’s assistant, in spite of the inmate having filled out a medical request form. Initially, the case against the nurse was thrown out by a magistrate. An appeals court reversed the lower court’s ruling, which set the stage for the nurse to face trial.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7 of this ongoing series. Next, learn about a county jail and a state with a high number of custodial deaths and the story of one woman’s tragic death in particular.

Each of the posts on this site is meant to provide help to current and former Texas inmates as well as their families. There is never an intention to imply that an institution or person has engaged in impropriety of any kind.

–Guest Contributor