Deaths in Texas jail investigated for civil rights violations

The FBI field office in Houston, Texas has launched investigations into civil rights violations in the Harris County Jail following the deaths of some inmates.

The investigations were opened after Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez’s office sent a request to probe into the death of two prisoners, Jaquaree Simmons and Jacoby Pillow, who died in February 2021 and January 2023, respectively, the sheriff’s office said in a press statement.

The request indicated that both deaths were caused due to human rights violations by some jail staff, the statement added, noting that after conducting an internal probe by the sheriff’s office, “multiple policy violations” were uncovered. In response, 11 employees were terminated and six others were suspended.

“I look forward to learning the FBI’s findings, because we must all know the full truth if we are to improve our operation and make the jail as safe as possible for everyone entrusted into our care,” said Gonzalez.

Four deaths have been reported in the jail since January this year, the spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff's Office, Angelique Myers, told CBS News on February 15, adding that death rates at the Harris County Jail over the past two years have slightly increased, as they recorded 27 and 21 deaths in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

About 200,000 people are imprisoned in Texas prisons and jails annually, the largest number of prisoners compared to any other prison, according to the Marshal Law firm. The state has 92 prisons and pre-release and psychiatric facilities that come under the authority of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (DCJ), in addition to 18 federal detention centers and nine federal prison camps, according to Texas Public Records.

In January, Texas prisoners went on a hunger strike for three weeks in protest against solitary confinement, which has been practiced against hundreds of prisoners for more than a decade, Texas Public Radio reported on January 25.

Last year, the administration of Texas prisons and jails was criticized over the absence of adequate living condition for inmates during the summer’s scorching temperatures. It was reported that 75% of the state’s jails lack air-conditioners, which led to the deaths of some inmates, Texas Tribune reported on August 24, 2022. 

In September 2022, the US Department of Justice was accused of failing to count the number of deaths inside the states’ jails and prisons, according to a report that was issued by a bipartisan Senate committee, NBC reported, noting that the department failed to count at least 990 deaths in 2021.