Multiple violations of minimum jail standards have been discovered with regard to the jail’s care of the inmate whose death has been the subject of this series. The inmate’s husband, for example, brought prescription medications to the jail a few days after her arrest. The medications were for treatment of bipolar disorder, HIV, and to prevent fungal infections, the latter of which is what she ultimately died from. The records did not reflect the names of the medications, and she was not given her prescription medicines on a consistent basis.

A watchdog group found seven more cases like this woman’s, in which the custodial death was not reported because the individual was released from custody on the way out the door to be admitted into a hospital for treatment.

In another Texas jail, a man’s custodial death nearly went unreported. A few days after he hung himself in the county jail, he died in a hospital. His custodial death was not reported on the claim that he had been released from jail before dying. Because he had a pulse upon leaving the jail, the in-custody aspect of the fatality was scrubbed. The Texas Rangers ultimately got involved, but this was just another example of a custodial death that almost slipped by without notice.

Advocates for inmates’ rights point out that criminal investigations more effectively bring rigorous accountability as compared with TCJS inspection reports on non-compliant jails. The Texas Rangers are among the entities that look for evidence of criminal misconduct among jail staff and medical personnel.

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this continuing series to learn more. In the next segment, learn about criminal indictments connected to a custodial death that, like so many others, almost went unreported.

This website purposes to help Texas prisoners currently or formerly detained in city and county jails and their families. There is never an intention on this site to infer misdeeds on the part of a person, organization, or institution.

–Guest Contributor