Woman Dies in Anderson County, Texas Jail

Rhonda Newsome, who was 50 years of age at the time of her death, recently passed away in the Anderson County, Texas jail.  Ms. Newsome had apparently been prescribed medications for several issues, and it is uncertain as of the date of this post as to the cause of her death.  An autopsy has apparently been scheduled.

In Texas, the Texas Rangers typically investigate county jail deaths.  A new law in Texas requires an agency other than the agency in custody of a person who dies to actually do the investigation.  Therefore, Anderson County, while it might choose to conduct its own investigation, must allow an outside agency to also investigate Ms. Newsome’s death.

We make no allegation of any wrongdoing in this post.  However, as a general matter, pretrial detainees such as Ms. Newsome have a right pursuant to the 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution to reasonable medical care.  That right includes provision of appropriate medication and providing medical treatment when necessary.  If a Texas city or county fails to provide such medical treatment, the city or county could be liable to the heirs at law, parents, children, and/or spouse of the deceased person for damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1983.

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.