Category: Medical Care

The Lynn County Sheriff’s Office, in Tahoka, Texas, filed a report regarding the custodial death of Eustacio Gallegos.  Mr. Gallegos was 73 years old at the time of his death.  We provide in this post information we obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone regarding Mr. Gallegos’ death.

The custodial death report includes perhaps the shortest summary that our Texas jail abuse law firm has ever reviewed.  The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety, “Pending the results of Autopsy/Investigation.”  The report also indicates that Mr. Gallegos died in pre-custody after a use of force against him.  It further indicates that he had mental health problems and exhibited medical problems.

Obviously, with such ambiguous information, we have no idea what caused Mr. Gallegos’ death.  It is our experience that the Texas Rangers will generally investigate such a death, to determine whether there is any potential criminal liability.  Civil liability is separate from criminal liability, and civil liability can arise if a person’s constitutional rights are violated. In a use-of-force situation, the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the guarantee at issue.  If a person dies as a result of an unreasonable use of force, then certain surviving family members might be able to bring a lawsuit.

Tyler Jay Huffman was placed in a detox cell after he was booked into Tarrant County Jail in Austin, Texas. The custodial death report shows that the 38-year-old was detoxing from unknown narcotics. Five days later, on September 10, 2021, Mr. Huffman was discovered dead in his single cell. 

Jails have become a primary place where mentally ill individuals in need of mental health care end up in Texas. It is widely recognized that this fact is highly unfortunate and contributes to the high rate of suicides in jails. Within a report by a watchdog group in Texas, various sheriffs in the state comment on the issue. Sheriffs invariably acknowledge that jails are ill-equipped for the task of providing adequate mental healthcare for inmates experiencing a mental health crisis. 

As a result of extensive research on the link between custodial deaths and mental illness, the following are recommendations for preventing avoidable fatalities in jails: 

• Divert low-risk arrestees in need of mental healthcare into treatment facilities through an alliance between local mental health providers, county courts, and law enforcement.
• Implement stronger screening, more effective observation, safer housing, and referral to treatment to prevent suicide and self-harm in county jails.
• Work to prevent seclusion, restraint, and uses of force against mentally ill inmates.
• Ensure inmate access to needed or previously prescribed medications, implement peer support groups, and develop detox protocols.

Learn more in Part 1 of this ongoing series. 

Suggesting that wrongs have occurred on the part of individuals or institutions is never intended on this website. Helping inmates in Texas county jails is the purpose of posts on this site. 

–Guest Contributor

Thirty-eight-year-old Tyler Jay Huffman died in Austin, Texas, at Tarrant County Jail on September 10, 2021. Mr. Huffman was booked into the jail five days earlier. Results of an autopsy are pending, and the custodial death report shows that a particular Texas Department of Public Safety Ranger was appointed to investigate the death.

Many deaths in county jails in Texas are believed to have been preventable. A report was prepared by a watchdog group in which the allegedly preventable deaths of many mentally ill inmates were examined. The specific cases cited in the report include mentally disturbed inmates who died from:

• Severe withdrawal seizures that allegedly resulted from an abrupt withdrawal from the provision of prescribed medication; 
• Suicide allegedly resulting from a failure to provide proper monitoring;
• Suicide after suicidal statements were allegedly ignored, resulting in the inmate not being placed in a suicide-resistant cell;
• Suicide after county jail staff members failed to notify a magistrate about the potentially suicidal inmate who was suffering from mental health problems;
• An injury sustained while suffering from allegedly untreated alcohol withdrawals;
• A bacterial infection that occurred after an alleged failure to provide adequate medical care;
• Severe seizures resulting from unsupported withdrawal after the jail allegedly denied the inmate his prescription anxiety medication; and
• Suicide in a case in which the magistrate who was notified of the inmate’s mental illness took no action.

Learn more in this ongoing series. 

Making implications of misdeeds on the part of persons or entities is never an intention on this website. The purpose of posts on this site is to help inmates detained in county jails in Texas, whether currently or previously incarcerated.

–Guest Contributor

The Wharton County Sheriff’s Department filed a custodial death report on 56-year-old Henry Donell Stephens, who died at the jail on January 15, 2021. The report indicates that Mr. Stephens died from a pre-existing medical condition.

Jail Inspection Report Dated 10/7/2021

A jail inspection report released on October 7th, 2021, says that a county jail in Texas was non-compliant with a portion of RULE §273.6-Restraints. Part (3) shows that inmates in restraints must be observed every 15 minutes at most. The observations must include checking to ensure that blood circulation to the extremities has not been cut off. Documentation of the observations is also required.

• According to an inspector with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS), the county jail’s documentation on observation checks of inmates in restraints indicates that there has been non-compliance. Jail staff exceeded the15-minute requirement for observation checks by 1 to 5 minutes on multiple occasions.

Special Jail Inspection Report Dated 4/8/2020

In an April 2020 special jail inspection report, an inspector found non-compliance regarding observation checks of inmates confined in a holding cell or detox cell. Inmates in these types of cells must be observed in intervals not to exceed 30 minutes.

Suicide prevention is a primary consideration when it comes to making observation checks in holding cells and detox cells. Supervision of inmates is the most effective deterrent to custodial suicides.

Learn more in Part 1 and this continuing series.

This website never purposes to imply that any individual or organization has participated in improprieties. Posts on this site are added to help county jail inmates in Texas.

 –Guest Contributor

Henry Donell Stephens was 56 years old when he died in the custody of Wharton County Jail in Wharton, Texas, on January 15, 2021. According to the custodial death report, the medical causes of death of Mr. Stephens were atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Natural reasons and suicide are the top two causes of death in jails. Virtually all custodial suicides are categorized as preventable deaths. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) establishes the procedures for healthcare for inmates as well as suicide prevention. 

The complaints about medical care in Texas county jails far outnumber complaints about anything else, according to TCJS. Based on a close examination of jail inspection reports for non-compliant jails in Texas, the evidence of failure in the area of providing inmate medical care is not something that can be fully measured during annual jail inspections.

Some aspects of inmate medical care are documented and, unfortunately, frequently show up as areas of non-compliance. One example is with the use of restraints. Monitoring of inmates kept in restraints is required every 15 minutes. It is for health reasons that an inmate who is bound by handcuffs, leg shackles, or who is strapped into a restraint chair that medical attention is required.

Learn more in this continuing series about jails that have been non-compliant in connection with the use of restraints and mandatory medical services provided to inmates.

The posts on this site are intended as resources to benefit inmates in Texas county jails. It is never intended on this website to make an inference of wrongdoing on the part of any persons or organizations.

 –Guest Contributor

According to the Tom Green Sheriff’s Department, Celestino Perez received extensive medical care while he was incarcerated at Tom Green County Jail in San Angelo, Texas. Mr. Green died on January 2, 2021. He was 54 years old at the time of his death. 

Tuberculosis (TB) is a concern in all county jails and prisons because it is a potentially serious infectious disease that primarily affects the lungs. TB can also affect the kidneys. The bacteria that causes TB can be passed from one person to another through tiny droplets that are released into the air by way of coughing and sneezing.

TB had become quite rare in developed countries, but an increase of tuberculosis infections began in 1985. This was partly because of the emergence of HIV, which is the virus that causes AIDS. An individual who has HIV is unable to fight TB germs because he or she has a weakened immune system.

The following are among the signs and symptoms of active TB, which is a condition that makes you sick and can be passed to others. Spreading the disease can happen weeks or years after having the infection.

• Coughing for three weeks or more
• Coughing up mucus or blood
• Fever
• Fatigue
• Loss of appetite
• Chest pain or pain with coughing or breathing

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this three-part series.

In providing this website, the intention is to help inmates currently and previously incarcerated in county jails in Texas. There is never an intent to make a suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of entities or individuals.

 –Guest Contributor

At the age of 54, Celestino Perez died in the custody of Tom Green County Jail in San Angelo, Texas, on January 2, 2021. He had been booked into the jail on October 17th, 2020. According to the custodial death report prepared by the Tom Green Sheriff’s Department, the cause of death was a pre-existing medical condition. 

The following guidelines established by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) also apply to the required tuberculosis screening plan that county jails must adopt:

If an inmate is booked into the same county jail facility more than one time within a year, he or she is not required to be retested for TB at each rebooking unless the inmate shows symptoms of or is known to have been exposed to tuberculosis. 

The tuberculosis screening plan for each county jail must be developed and implemented in accordance with 25 TAC §§97.171 – 97.180, which relates to Communicable Diseases, and the Texas Health and Safety Code, §§89.001 – 89.102 and must be approved by the appropriate branch of the Department of State Health Services prior to use. Upon request, the plan must be made available to TCJS.

An inmate’s medical records or documentation of treatment or screenings received during confinement must accompany an inmate who is transferred from one jail or prison to another and be available for medical review upon arrival of the inmate.

See Part 1 and this continuing series.

Providing helpful resources for Texas inmates now and previously incarcerated in county jails is the purpose of this website. There is never an intention to infer that persons or organizations have been participants in improprieties.

 –Guest Contributor

Celestino Perez was an inmate of Tom Green County Jail when he died on January 2, 2021. The Tom Green County Sheriff’s Department in San Angelo, Texas, filed the custodial death report. Mr. Perez received extensive medical care while he was incarcerated, and he reportedly died of natural causes.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards sets the guidelines for the operation of county jails in the state. Necessary medical care for inmates must be provided. The tuberculosis screening plan is an important health consideration. A few details on the tuberculosis screening plan follows:

• Any jail facility with a 100-bed capacity or more must develop and implement a tuberculosis screening test for employees, inmates, and volunteers. The requirement is also for facilities that house inmates transferred from a facility with at least a 100-bed capacity or from another state.

• When an inmate has been confined for more than 7 days, he or she must be tested on or before the 7th day after entry into the facility. Inmates may be exempt from the tuberculosis screening test when the test conflicts with the tenets of an organized religion that the individual may belong to. Another reason for exemptions is when the test is contraindicated by a physician’s examination.

In this continuing series, learn more about the tuberculosis requirements by TCJS as well as some of the reasons this type of care is essential.

This website provides information intended as helpful resources for Texas county jail inmates, whether now or previously incarcerated. It is never an intention on this site to infer wrongdoing on persons or entities.

 –Guest Contributor

Justin Michael Henderson was in the custody of Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, when he died at the age of 35 on February 4th, 2021. A custodial death report was filed by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, and it reflects that Mr. Henderson was incarcerated on December 9, 2020. The report also shows that he died from the toxic effects of heroin.

The following are more of the reasons that the suicide death rates in jails and prisons are higher than in the general public on a consistent basis:

In some custodial settings, policies and procedures for the identification and management of suicidal inmates are lacking in formality. Even if there is screening to identify indicators that an inmate is at high risk, there are inadequate methods for monitoring the distress levels of prisoners. As a result, the likelihood of detecting acute risk is minimal.

When appropriate procedures and policies for the detection of suicide risks are in place, early warning signs of an inmate being suicidal may be missed because of personnel who are overworked or untrained in healthcare and mental health.

Correctional settings are often isolated from community programs of mental health so that there is little to no access to mental health treatment or professionals.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

The posts on this website are meant as helpful resources to benefit Texas inmates in county jails in the state. There is no intent on this site to imply that any individuals or organizations have participated in improprieties.

 –Guest Contributor

After Houston, Texas, Harris County Jail inmate Justin Michael Henderson died on February 4th, 2021, the Harris County Sheriff’s Department filed a custodial death report. The report states that Mr. Henderson died of natural causes. The medical cause of death is shown as “the toxic effects of heroin.” 

Suicide is the leading cause of death in jails across the U.S. Numerous studies have been done, many for the purpose of seeking to do a better job of suicide prevention. One study found that any combination of the following factors, which are both individual and environmental, could account for the consistently higher rates of suicide in jail settings– to be continued in the third part of this series:

• Jails and prisons are gathering places for people groups that traditionally have the highest vulnerability to carrying out suicidal thoughts, including:
  • Young males
  • The socially disenfranchised
  • Socially isolated individuals
  • Those with substance use problems
  • The mentally ill
  • Individuals who have previously carried out suicidal behaviors

• Inmates’ abilities to cope may be exceeded, considering the psychological impact of arrest and incarceration, an expected long prison sentence, the day-to-day stresses associated with life behind bars, and symptoms of withdrawal experienced by drug addicts.

Learn more in Part 1 and this continuing series.

Each of the posts on this site purpose to benefit inmates now or previously detained in county jails in the state of Texas. There is never an intention on this website to suggest that improprieties have occurred on the part of persons or organizations.

 –Guest Contributor