Terence Regal Colbert entered Hunt County Jail in Greenville, Texas, on January 12, 2024, and died in the jail’s custody on February 10, 2024. Mr. Colbert was 41 years old when he died, and the cause of his death is currently unknown and pending autopsy results. However, several insights about his condition were noted at the time of booking. Mr. Colbert made suicidal statements and exhibited mental and medical health problems.
The custodial death report (CDR) filed by the Hunt County Sheriff’s Department on February 13, 2024, relates a possible clue to what may have happened. Although Mr. Colbert was in a single cell, the answer to a question about his death states “Unknown person(s) caused the injury.” The jail facility where Mr. Colbert was housed is at 2801 Stuart Street, Greenville TX 75401.
A Mental Health Crisis in U.S. Jails Puts Detainees At Risk
Statistics prove that a mental health crisis is occurring in Texas jails and throughout the nation. Unnecessary deaths can easily occur when mentally ill individuals are jailed rather than treated for their mental condition. An unnecessary death that occurred in Tarrant County highlights this problem, as follows.
Georgia Kay Baldwin Dies in Tarrant County Jail on 9/14/21
Georgia Kay Baldwin died at age 52 after about 4½ months in the Tarrant County Jail facility at 600 W. Weatherford St., Fort Worth, Texas 76196. She exhibited mental health problems at the time of booking on April 27, 2021.
On July 27, 2021, a transfer order to a state psychiatric facility hospital was ordered by a judge who recognized that Ms. Baldwin was severely mentally ill. There was and is a huge problem with complying with such orders, however. The waitlist to be admitted to a state psychiatric hospital at that time already had thousands of names on it. It might have taken many months or years before Ms. Baldwin could have been admitted.
After Ms. Baldwin died on September 14, 2021, the autopsy results showed that her cause of death was “severe hypernatremia, etiology undetermined.” Severe hypernatremia is an imbalance of sodium that usually results from dehydration. There was a water fountain in Ms. Baldwin’s single cell. It is reasonable to suspect, however, that because she was not under care for her potentially severe mental disability, it is possible that she could have neglected to hydrate herself to the point of death.
Statistics show that upwards of 44% of the detainees in city or county jails have been diagnosed with a mental disorder. Among those who have been incarcerated three times within one year, 27% have a moderate or severe mental illness.
Hunt County Jail Violated Rules Meant to Protect the Mentally Ill
Among the past inspections by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) that Hunt County Jail in Texas has failed was a special jail inspection on April 2018. It was scheduled after a custodial death had occurred. The jail was cited for 10 alleged violations of minimum jail standards in that one report. Among the violations were at least two that exposed a lack of care toward adherence to the suicide prevention plan. Face-to-face observations every 10 minutes for suicidal detainees were not conducted in the timing mandated. Also, suicide prevention training among the jailers was neglected, which could affect the safety of mentally ill detainees.
Who Can Help with Deaths Resulting from Jail Neglect?
Our office is working on several jail death cases. If you have suffered severe repercussions after being in a U.S. jail or if a loved one has died and you suspect the death was the result of jail neglect, contact us today. Call us, text us, or complete our online form at any time of the day or night.
