Two investigations of the death of a Brazos County jail inmate last August are nearing completion.
Sheriff Chris Kirk says reports from their office and a Texas Ranger will be reviewed by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, the attorney general, and the district attorney.
According to an autopsy report from Austin that was released this week, 44 year old Melvin Jones of Bryan died from natural causes due to severe dehydration that caused organ failure. According to the sheriff, Jones did not eat or drink on a regular basis.
That led to a new policy where a local justice of the peace is notified in writing when an inmate could harm themself or has mental health or mental retardation issues.
The sheriff during the 16 days Jones was in jail, he had seven visits with the medical staff and one doctor’s visit. Jones died after becoming unconscious and falling out of a chair in the jail’s medical department.
Kirk says mental health issues involving jail inmates remains the number one legislative priority at the Texas Sheriffs Association.
Click below for comments from Chris Kirk, visiting with wTAW’s Bill Oliver:
News release from Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk:
On Tuesday, January 18th, 2016, Precinct #4 Justice of the Peace Louis Garcia released a copy of the final autopsy report from the Travis County Medical Examiner on the in-custody death of inmate Melvin Earl Jones.
According to the report, the doctor conducting the autopsy issued a Medical Examiner Report concluding that Melvin Jones died as the result of organ failure due to severe dehydration and that the manner of death was ruled as Natural.
Details: Mr. Jones was arrested by Bryan Police Department at St. Joseph’s Hospital and booked in to the Brazos County Jail charged with assaulting a hospital staff member on August 2nd 2015. He died on August 18th.
During his incarceration, Mr. Jones made threats of self-harm and violence. His institutional behavior, including hygiene issues; refusal to wear clothes, and threats of self-harm resulted in his housing classification to the Special Housing Unit. He did not regularly eat food or drink despite efforts of the jail staff to encourage him.
Our medical staff interacted with Mr. Jones on seven occasions during his incarceration and he had a doctor’s visit on August 13th. Medical staff responded to every known symptom, and there was no indication that he needed to go to the hospital prior to August 18th. He was in our Medical Department for evaluation after telling an officer he did not feel well when he became unconscious and fell from a chair. He was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital by EMS.
Mr. Jones was known by our Crisis Intervention Team and MHMR as a mental health consumer and they made arrangements for him to be hospitalized after learning that he was being bonded out of jail. The current operations of mental health facilities of this type cannot guarantee that inmates sent for treatment will be returned to custody. Family members stopped efforts to post his bond after learning that he would be hospitalized rather than released.
We are conducting an internal investigation and parallel independent investigation is being conducted by Texas Ranger Andres de la Garza. The investigations will be concluded soon. Copies of the investigation will be submitted as a supplement to the Attorney General’s Death In-Custody Report that we filed following the death of Mr. Jones. Also, a copy of the report will be filed with the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office for review.