A 31-Year-Old Young County Jail Inmate Commits Suicide

Thirty-one-year-old Brandon Kyle Taylor went through intake at Young County Jail on September 1, 2022. Young County Jail is at 315 N Cliff Drive in Graham, TX 76450. On March 21, 2023, Mr. Taylor used bedding to hang himself and was pronounced deceased that day in a segregation cell. Within the custodial death report (CDR) filed by the Young County Sheriff’s Department, that is essentially the summary of how Mr. Taylor’s death occurred. The CDR also reflects that Mr. Taylor, during the booking process, was recognized as exhibiting mental health problems. His manner of death is listed as “suicide,” but the medical cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy.

More possible insights into Mr. Taylor’s death are found in a noncompliance report the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) issued to Young County Jail as a result of a special jail inspection report. The jail inspection report was issued on May 25, 2023. It indicates that the inspection was conducted following a custodial death.

Young County Jail was cited for noncompliance with two minimum jail standards, one of which is part of the mental disabilities/suicide prevention plan. The other ostensibly contributes to suicide prevention measures in the jail. More details will follow in the next segment of this series, and it demonstrates that when steps in suicide prevention are neglected, it can cost vulnerable inmates their lives.

Learn more in Part 1 and this continuing series.

Providing help to inmates now or formerly detained in a Texas municipal or county jail is one of the purposes of this website. There is never an intention of implying that misdeeds have occurred on the part of individuals or institutions.

–Guest Contributor