The Victoria County Sheriff’s Office filed a custodial death report with the Attorney General of Texas, regarding the death of Amy Michelle McInnis. Ms. McInnis was only 42 years old at the time of her death. We provide information in this post obtained from that report, and we do not make any allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone regarding Ms. McInnis’s death.
The report indicates that Ms. McInnis exhibited both mental health problems and medical problems. Ms. McInnis was originally incarcerated in the county jail on April 3, 2020 at approximately 10:41 p.m.
On April 8, 2020, a sergeant at the Victoria County jail learned that jail officers working in the Zone One area had a medical issue in Cell 2042. Ms. McInnis was housed in that cell. Jail officers responded that Ms. McInnis was unresponsive. CRP was initiated. EMS arrived, and attempted to perform lifesaving measures. However, at 12:15 p.m., Ms. McInnis was pronounced as being deceased.
The report provides no information regarding Ms. McInnis’s mental health history, whether she was being observed through state-required face-to-face observations, and/or what mental health problems she exhibited at the jail. Regardless, it is customary in Texas for the Texas Rangers to investigate such a custodial death. Texas Rangers do not investigate whether there is civil liability for the death of an inmate in a Texas county jail, but instead whether there is any criminal liability.
Without regard to Ms. McInnis, generally, jailers in Texas have constitutional duties to provide reasonable medical care and reasonable mental healthcare to pre-trial detainees. If jailers are deliberately indifferent and/or act objectively unreasonably regarding such needs, then they can be liable to certain surviving family members for the death of a county jail inmate. Once again, we are making no allegations regarding Ms. McInnis’s death but are simply providing general information.
