Dallas County Sheriff's Department reports that there have been nine deaths in the jail in 2023. (Peterson/Hiott)
Claude Joiner, 66, was arrested June 21 on a probation/parole violation, the county report to the state said. He was taken to the Parkland Memorial Hospital on July 27. The report said that his medical cause of death was liver cancer. He died Aug. 7 at the hospital.
Charles Thomas, 41, was arrested and placed into jail May 31. Thomas was accused of assaulting an officer, criminal mischief valued between $50 and $500, and unauthorized use of a vehicle, the report said.On Aug. 9, guards were doing rounds and found Thomas unresponsive. First responders arrived 30 minutes later, pronounced him dead and did not transport due to “signs of death ,” the county report said. The autopsy is still pending.
Texas Jail Standards Commission Executive Director Brandon Wood said jail deaths must be reported to his agency within 24 hours. His staff are reviewing the Dallas inmate deaths to determine whether there were any violations of administrative rules.Dustin Rynder, the Texas Civil Rights Project’s criminal injustice director, said that Dallas’ nine deaths is too many. “That is a staggering number for a county the size of Dallas,” he said.
Rynder said that even if an inmate dies of natural causes, it is hard to know whether the jail conditions, access to healthcare, stress, or the mental health impacts of incarceration played a factor. “We’re dealing with an individual who hasn’t been convicted of anything, and they spent the end of their lives separated from their family, their community,” he said. “In every case, it’s tragic.”Many booked into Dallas County this summer have waited longer for their cases to be handled than they would have in the past due to a new criminal case management system that has caused delays, officials say.
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