The 3rd Prisoner in a Year Dies at Parker County Jail in Weatherford, Texas
A custodial death occurred on Thursday, November 9, 2017, in Parker County Jail in Weatherford, Texas, about 28 miles west of Fort Worth. Twenty-seven-year-old Denay Birnie was discovered to be unresponsive in pre-dawn hours, after having been arrested the night before. Medics were immediately called to evaluate her condition and begin performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). LifeCare was called and Birnie was transported to Medical City Weatherford. According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, just after 5:30 a.m. she was pronounced dead. So far, the cause of death has not been revealed.
As sometimes occurs when custodial deaths occur in detention facilities in the Lone Star State, the Texas Rangers are conducting an investigation.
Jail standards are in place which were designed to prevent prisoners from dying or being harmed while in custody. There have been many times when it has been discovered that certain jail standards were not followed, after a jail suicide or deaths by other causes.
One of the jail standards in the Texas Administrative Code states that alleged offenders who are in the criminal justice system are to be identified as being significantly ill, terminally ill, physically disabled, elderly, or mentally impaired. If medical attention is needed, it must be provided.
There have been two other prisoner fatalities at Parker County Jail in the past year, in addition to Birnie. Thirty-eight-year-old Jesse Debusk died on December 24, 2016, following an incident that involved an altercation with jail personnel. Restraints and pepper spray were used. According to the medical examiner, the cause of Debusk’s death was hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and methamphetamine intoxication associated with physical struggle during the application of restraints.
On December 15, 2017, 66-year-old Ernest Stasulli died in the Parker County Jail. A report that the Texas Attorney General filed indicates that he died of natural causes associated with severe occlusive coronary atherosclerosis.
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