Thirty-Four-Year-Old Man Detained in DeWitt County Jail Unnecessarily Suffers and Dies – Federal Lawsuit Filed

For Immediate Release

Victoria, Texas – December 3, 2025

Trey Kaiser, only thirty-four years old, died after not receiving any medical care or treatment while he was incarcerated in the DeWitt County jail, even though it was apparent that treatment was needed. Trey was arrested and initially transported to a local hospital before being incarcerated in the DeWitt County jail. However, the hospital was not allowed to take Trey into the emergency department to conduct an appropriate medical evaluation. Instead, Trey was not allowed to leave the police vehicle. Trey was then “discharged” from the hospital and transported to the DeWitt County jail.

The DeWitt County jail incarcerated Trey knowing that he had not received an appropriate medical evaluation at the local hospital. Over the next hours and days, Trey suffered as a result of apparent withdrawals from drug ingestion. Instead of the jail obtaining needed medical care for Trey, jail employees simply watched. Certain jailers indicated to their chain of command that they were concerned about Trey’s medical condition. Nevertheless, medical care was not provided to Trey until he was found unresponsive. It was too late.

Trey was unfortunately arrested on a Friday and was found unresponsive in the jail on a Sunday. This was unfortunate because the jail did not staff even a nurse on weekends. Thus, Trey was allowed to linger and suffer in the jail without needed medical treatment until it was too late.

Constitutional rights lawyer Dean Malone represents Trey’s family members and filed a federal lawsuit in Victoria, Texas. Mr. Malone said, “Trey’s death is inexcusable. It is beyond me that our law firm continues to see similar cases across Texas. There is no reason to allow a person to suffer and die without providing emergency medical care, especially when care is just a phone call away. If Trey had timely received medical care, he would have lived and not needlessly suffered. While no one should be treated this way, it is particularly troubling for someone like Trey, a pretrial detainee who had been convicted of nothing. Texas jails need to take seriously illness and intoxication among those they incarcerate.”

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