Category: Medical Care

Leo Lawrence died in the custody of Wichita County Jail in Wichita Falls, Texas, on September 15, 2021. He had been jailed there since July 7, 2021. Just before he died, Mr. Lawrence was having difficulty breathing. His cause of death is unknown and pending autopsy results.

Risk Factors for Custodial Suicide Continued

Continuing from the previous segment in this series, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) has released the following information about who is most at risk for suicide in county jails:

• Inmates in a single cell, meaning no one else shares the cell, are at an increased risk of suicide. This is an essential risk factor for jails to consider because it is something they can exercise a lot of control over. At-risk inmates should be double-celled, not placed in a single cell.
• Sex offenders have a heightened risk of suicide. This may be due to embarrassment of being caught and arrested or fear of what they may experience in jail.
• Men are at a greater risk for committing suicide than women.

The training of jail staff members is a vital component of suicide prevention. In addition to indicators related to an inmate’s status, behavioral signs can raise red flags about an individual’s vulnerability. For instance, withdrawing from family and friends and isolating oneself is a strong sign that an inmate is a suicidal risk. If they start telling people goodbye when they aren’t soon to be released, it is a strong indicator of suicidal ideations.

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

There is not an intent on this site to suggest that individuals or organizations are participants in improprieties. The purpose of this website’s posts is to assist inmates in county jails in Texas.

–Guest Contributor

The Texas Rangers were notified to investigate the September 15, 2021 death of 72-year-old Leo Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence was in the custody of Wichita County Jail in Wichita Falls, Texas, at the time of his passing. He was in a Wichita Falls health care facility when he was pronounced dead, and the cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy.

Custodial suicide is something that virtually every prisoner can be at risk for. Through extensive research, a wide range of risk factors for suicide have emerged. Statistics also show that suicide and natural causes involving health issues are usually the first or second leading causes of death in jails.

Risk Factors for Custodial Suicide

The suicide rate among incarcerated individuals is consistently higher than the rate among those who are not behind bars. The following is information demonstrating that diligence in preventing suicide is essential in county jails.

• The first seven days of any inmate’s incarceration is a time of special risk. This is due to a perfect storm of stressors associated with initial incarceration.
• Pretrial inmates are often riddled with questions about what may happen to them, and this time of uncertainty places them at greater risk for suicidal thoughts and intentions.
• Psychotic inmates and mentally ill individuals experiencing depression are tremendous suicidal risks.

Learn more in Part 1 and this ongoing series.

There is no intention on this website to make an implication that a person or entity has engaged in wrongdoing. The purpose for adding posts is to help Texas prisoners currently or previously incarcerated in a county jail.

–Guest Contributor

Leo Lawrence was admitted into Wichita County Jail in Wichita Falls, Texas, on July 7, 2021. Before his death at age 72 on September 15, 2021, he was seen breathing heavily in his cell at around midday. Within minutes, he was unresponsive and then pronounced dead at a medical facility an hour after his physical distress was first reported.

One of the minimum jail standards that county jails are required to abide by is to provide medical services. Each county must come up with its own plan, which must be approved by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS).

Inmate Medical Care

In one particular county jail in Texas, the jail website indicates that medical attention is given to inmates regardless of their ability to pay for the medical care. As an example of inmate medical care, the basic medical services provided at that Texas jail include the following:

• New significant illnesses will be assessed
• Emergency medical services
• Supervision and monitoring of chronic disorders

Medications

A licensed medical staff member must distribute medications per the order of the jail physician. Inmates are able to purchase some over-the-counter medications from the commissary.

Dental Services

The jail provides tooth extractions.

Learn more in this ongoing series.

There is no desire or intention on this website to suggest that any individual or entity has been a participant in wrongdoing. Each of the posts on the site is intended as a resource to help inmates in Texas incarcerated now or previously in a county jail.

–Guest Contributor

According to dates reflected on the custodial death report on 47-year-old Billy Wayne Dunn, he died five days after being booked into Harris County Jail. Mr. Dunn used a sheet to fashion a ligature and hanged himself. He was pronounced dead on September 23, 2021.

The aforementioned mnemonic device, SAD PERSoNS, follows, and it indicates who is most at risk for committing suicide, whether behind bars or not:

S – The sex of inmates is a determining factor in the level of risk for suicide, with 73% of suicides committed by white males.

A – The age group of 15 to 24-year-olds has the highest risk among males for suicide.

D – Death—suicide is the third leading caused of death for above-mentioned age group. Depression also heightens a person’s risk of suicide. Between 30% and 40% of all people who commit suicide had been diagnosed with depression.

P – Previous suicide attempts is another indicator of a person at risk.

E – Ethanol abuse and alcohol are risk factors.

R – Rational thought loss is something many people have in common when they are suicidal, such as persons with schizophrenia and/or depression.

S – Social support is lacking. When a person has gone through a divorce or has lost a member of their family, they are at heightened risk for suicide.

N – No spouse. Individuals who are single, separated, widowed, or divorced, they are suicide risks.

S – Sickness. People with chronic health problems are at an increased risk for suicide.

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

There is not an intention on this site to suggest that any person or institution has engaged in misdeeds. The posts on this website aim to help inmates now or formerly incarcerated in a county jail in Texas.

–Guest Contributor

Records show that Billy Wayne Dunn entered Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, on September 23, 2021. He committed suicide using a sheet to hang himself. Mr. Dunn died on September 28, 2021, according to the custodial death report.

The risk of suicide is increased behind bars. Inmates who are at a higher risk than others include the following, according to research:

• Young men
• Mentally ill individuals
• Alcohol and drug addicts
• Those who have previously attempted suicide

The stressors associated with initial incarceration, the shame of being jailed, fear of the unknown, possible fear of other inmates, and relationship issues all create an environment in which every inmate has the potential for a suicide attempt. This makes suicide prevention challenging.

Research also shows that there is an increased risk of suicide in smaller jails as compared with larger facilities. In fact, research indicates that the rate of suicide is five times higher in jails housing fewer than 50 inmates. About 14% of custodial suicides occur in small jails.

NIC has conducted numerous studies and discovered that many jails do not provide their staff members with suicide prevention training. If the training is provided, it is not an annual event. Policies for suicide prevention are often present in small jails, though there are not usually comprehensive.

A mnemonic device, SAD PERSONS, can be used as a reminder of high-risk individuals. Learn more in the next segment.

See Part 1 and this ongoing series.

This website does not intend to imply that any person or entity has been a participant in wrongdoing. The purpose of the posts on this website is to help inmates incarcerated in Texas county jails.

–Guest Contributor

Billy Wayne Dunn, age 47, committed suicide on September 28, 2021, in Harris County Jail. Mr. Dunn had been in a single cell and used a sheet to take his own life in the Houston, Texas, jail.

Suicide is a major problem in county jails across the U.S. One of the primary issues that leads to custodial suicides is the jail environment.

Suicide and the Jail Environment

Experts say that the jail environment is conducive to suicide for the following reasons and more:

• Personal control is diminished
• Familiar coping mechanisms may not work while incarcerated
• Being in jail separates individuals from their social networks, which may include friends, families, and mental health professionals
• Isolation and privacy in jail can make committing suicide too easy
• Unmarried inmates are more likely to commit suicide than those who are married
• Being in a single cell, which means only one person is housed there, increases the risk of suicide
• Inmates are often upset, worked up, and in a personal state of crisis about being jailed and act impulsively
• Mental health resources may or may not be available
• The level of mental health care available in jail may not match the level of care an inmate received previously

Learn more in this ongoing series.

There is no intention on this website to suggest that institutions or individuals have been participants in wrongdoing. The goal in adding posts on this site is to help inmates now or previously incarcerated in a Texas county jail.

–Guest Contributor

Jose Molina, age 32, was discovered in his cell without a pulse in Fannin County Jail in Bonham, Texas, and was transported to a nearby medical center. He was pronounced dead on July 5, 2021. His cause of death is currently unknown.

The number of overdose deaths in jails has skyrocketed in recent years. Research has confirmed that incarceration increases the risk of suffering an overdose death. In addition, studies show that overdose is the third leading cause of in-custody deaths in U.S. county jails.

The problem with overdose deaths became clear in 2017. More people died of a drug overdose that year than suicide, the flu, pneumonia, or traffic accidents.  Almost 70% of overdose deaths in 2018 involved opioids, most of which were synthetic opioids.

Another study shows that between 2001 and 2018, the number of custodial deaths in the U.S. increased 611%.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released an official health advisory about fatal drug overdoses across the nation driven by synthetic opioids prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A public safety message on the advisory suggested that alternatives to jail or prison should be utilized for low-level drug offenses.

Some Texas county jails have begun to supply inmates with anti-overdose medication upon their release from jail, and Bexar County Jail in San Antonio was the first.

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

There is never an intent on this site to suggest that persons or entities have engaged in wrongs. This site seeks to assist Texas county jail prisoners, whether they are currently or were previously incarcerated.

–Guest Contributor

A custodial death report regarding Jose Molina shows that he died on July 5, 2021, at 32 years of age. He was in the custody of Fannin County Jail in Bonham, Texas, when he was pronounced dead in a nearby hospital. His death is currently under investigation.

In its role as overseer of Texas county jails, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has approved the use of restraint chairs. The purpose of allowing restraints to be used on prisoners is to provide a method for controlling inmates threatening harm to themselves or others. Investigations throughout the nation have revealed various dangers associated with restraint chairs.

Health Effects Associated with Restraint Chairs

When individuals are placed in a restraint chair, it is common for struggle to occur. The more combative a person is during the process of being strapped into a restraint chair, the greater the health threat to that individual. It is commonly known that when physical strain is followed by forced inactivity in a restraint chair, potentially deadly health conditions can develop. According to health professionals, the following can occur when a person is in a restraint chair:

• Muscle breakdown resulting in possible kidney damage can occur if there is prolonged struggle against confinement.
• Inmates can easily become dehydrated in a restraint chair.
• Blood clots are prone to develop in the lungs and legs.
• A deadly pulmonary embolism can develop.
• Urinary tract infections can occur.

See Part 1 and this ongoing series.

On this website, it is never meant for a person nor an entity to be implicated in any way as far as wrongdoing. The purpose of the post on this side is to help detainees currently or previously incarcerated in Texas county jails.

–Guest Contributor

Jose Molina, at age 32, died in the custody of Fannin County Jail in Bonham, Texas, on July 5, 2021. Before being transferred to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, a member of the jail staff discovered Mr. Molina unresponsive in his single cell. His cause of death is unknown.

In 2019, the number of in-custody deaths that occurred in county jails in Texas reached a record high. Research and the opinions of experts and advocates allege that the following contribute to custodial deaths in Texas:

• Inadequate training for jailers
• Low pay for jail staff
• Lack of empathy for inmates, even those without convictions

There was a 5% increase in custodial deaths in 2019 compared to the preceding 13-year average. In addition, the number of deaths was 11% higher than the total in 2017.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) has the responsibility of oversight of county jails. Advocates for prisoners point out that it is detrimental that TCJS has no punitive powers when jails are non-compliant with minimum jail standards.

Watchdog groups claim that evidence shows that jails get around reporting custodial deaths in various ways. Most commonly, an inmate will be released on their own recognizance, even without the inmate’s signature, when he or she is hospitalized with a serious illness. In other words, the number of custodial deaths has allegedly been higher than what is indicated by current statistics.

Learn more in this ongoing series.

There is no intention on this website to suggest that persons or entities have participated in misdeeds. The purpose behind this site’s posts is to provide assistance to inmates detained in county jail facilities in Texas.

–Guest Contributor

The Harris County Sheriff’s Department filed a custodial death report regarding the death of Billy Wayne Dunn. Mr. Dunn was only 47 years old at the time of his death. We provide information we obtained from that report, and we make not allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“On September 23, 2021, the decedent was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail. On September 28, 2021, detention staff was conducting visual observations of inmates inside cellblock 6L2 and observed the decedent with a sheet tied around his neck and the top of the cell door. Staff removed the sheet from the decedent’s neck, notified medical staff, and started CPR. Medical staff responded, continued CPR, and transported the decedent to the clinic. Houston Fire Department paramedics arrived, assumed care, and transported the decedent to St Joseph Hospital. Hospital staff continued CPR, and Dr. Shin pronounced death at 1:41 p.m.”

Oddly, in response to the field in the report which reads “make suicidal statements,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Department responded, “Unknown.” The Department also responded to the field asking whether Mr. Dunn exhibited any mental health problems with “Unknown.” The report even indicates that the County did not know whether Mr. Dunn exhibited any medical problems.

It is difficult to believe that the County did not know whether Mr. Dunn made suicidal statements, exhibited any mental health problems, or had any medical issues. If in fact the county was completely unaware of such issues, it may not have conducted a proper jail intake. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards (“TCJS”) has a specified intake screening form. That form screens primarily for mental health issues, but it also screens for medical issues.

Harris County jailers recently sued the County as a result of working conditions in the jail. It appears that the Harris County jail has had significant issues for a period of time. Unfortunately, these issues could lead to serious injury and/or death of inmates.

The United States Constitution guarantees that pre-trial detainees receive reasonable medical care, receive mental health care, and be protected from their own suicidal tendencies. If a jail fails to fulfill these guaranteed rights, and a person dies as a result, then certain surviving family members may be able to bring claims related to the death. Our Texas jail abuse and neglect civil rights law firm frequently represents such family members.  When representing such family members, we file suit in federal court.