Weekly news round-up 7/7/25
July 10, 2025
Read the highlights of Texas Jail Project news coverage below and click on the links to read the full articles. Houston Press: Harris County Inmate Deaths Point to Big Systemic…
Topics: 2025news, Custody Death, Medical, Mental Health, outsourcing, Sandra Bland Act, TCJS, Use of Force
Harris County
Read the highlights of Texas Jail Project news coverage below and click on the links to read the full articles.
Houston Press: Harris County Inmate Deaths Point to Big Systemic Problems, Advocates Say
CW: Graphic description of suicide.
This article, which quotes TJP several times, covers the many ways Harris County Jail is failing us and killing the people it holds. Harris County Jail has been out of compliance with Texas Commission on Jail Standards for over three years. Recently, there were three custody deaths within 48 hours.
“The fact that two of them died within four days of being booked tells me that they were probably unfit for confinement when they came in,” [Gundu] said. “They probably should have been sent to the hospital. Medical screening is one of the things they do during booking.”
“One would think that if a jail is non-compliant, there would be some efforts to shut it down, which is what would happen if it were a small enough jail,” [Gundu] said. “This is just too big of an operation. We’re really frustrated, and there’s no real plan from the county to remedy any of the things that are causing these deaths… There is no transparency and no accountability.”
The jail has consistently failed to provide adequate medical interventions and face-to-face observations, particularly for those experiencing mental illness. Consider the story of Simon Peter Douglas:
“In that cell, with restraints on, Simon managed to kill himself by hitting his head continuously on the metal grate on the floor,” [Gundu] said. “[Jail staff was] doing observation rounds and basically just watched him die instead of getting him to the ER.”
“When I got the investigation report from the jail commission, it said there was no violation of minimum standards, that they were doing their checks and all that. What is the f—-ing point of doing checks if you’re just watching someone kill themselves?”
Meanwhile, Harris County has been outsourcing to jails in Louisiana and Mississippi, where we often have even less oversight. The county spends about $54 million per year on outsourcing. We are advocating for the County to cancel these contracts at the end of the year.
News Spotlight: Man released from jail before dying in jail
Houston Press: Texas Rangers Investigating Death of Harris County Jail Inmate Tased by Officer
Alexis Jovany Cardenas was released from custody, then tased and physically restrained by officers. According to a press release from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, “once control was established [by officers], they noticed that Cardenas was unresponsive.” It appears the Sheriff’s Office may not count this as an “in-custody death” because Cardenas died after being “released” even though he was still in the jail.
If he was outside the exit door, then there was no need to deploy a Taser… If he was released then why were they trying to get control of him when he was resisting? If he was free they didn’t need to do anything and he wouldn’t need to resist. And they didn’t need to deploy a Taser.”
Video footage will be released within 45 days, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Read further news coverage from Houston Public Media, Houston Chronicle, KPRC, and Fox 26.
Full Article at Houston Press