The Wichita County, Texas Sheriff’s Department, in Wichita Falls, recently filed a custodial death report with the Attorney General of Texas regarding the death of Bernard Alexander Grant. Mr. Grant was only 51 years of age at the time of his death. We make no allegation of any wrongdoing in this post against anyone, but instead are simply providing information contained in that report.
Mr. Bernard was originally incarcerated in the jail at approximately 7:12 p.m. on January 28, 2019 for an alleged theft charge. On January 30, 2019, just before 6:00 a.m., meals were being passed out to the unit in which Mr. Grant was a prisoner. Mr. Grant did not respond to an officer asking him to get his tray. Officers then entered Mr. Grant’s cell and found him unresponsive. Jail staff began applying life-saving techniques, and EMTs ultimately arrived at the scene. Mr. Grant was taken to a local hospital at approximately 6:10 a.m. Unfortunately, he was pronounced deceased shortly before 7:00 a.m. that morning.
An autopsy has been ordered, as is typical in jail death cases in Texas. A local Wichita Falls justice of the peace ordered the autopsy. It is also fairly typical, when someone dies in a Texas county jail, for the Texas Rangers to conduct an investigation. In the alternative, a local law enforcement agency, other than the agency involved in the death, can, pursuant to the Sandra Bland Act, conduct the investigation. The custodial death report provides no information regarding Mr. Grant’s cause of death.
