Attorney Ben Crump Files Two New Lawsuits Against Harris County Jail Amid Inmate Deaths and Alleged Civil Rights Violations
The Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, is facing two new lawsuits filed by renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump. The suits, initiated late last month, address the deaths and alleged abuse of at least eight inmates and were filed on behalf of D’Alessandro Chavez-Sandoval, Alan Kerber, Eric Russell, Kyle Ryker, Victoria Simon, Robert Terry, Michael Walker, and Daevion Young.
Robert Terry is at the center of one of the lawsuits. Terry is the sixth person to die while incarcerated in Harris County Jail this year. Although alarming, this is the lowest death count in recent years. In 2023 there were 19 inmate deaths while 2022 saw an alarming 27 inmate deaths.
The 32-year-old had been booked and placed in the jail on May 13th. Three days later he would die after suffering what the jail called a medical emergency. New information, however, casts a cloud of suspicion and frustration over how jail officials handled their interaction with Terry.
Terry was allegedly dragged into a cell and beaten by officers. After the beating, he received some medical attention but was not evaluated for the serious injuries he incurred. Among those injuries were internal hemorrhaging and head trauma. Terry would eventually lose consciousness and hit his head on the metal toilet in the cell. He was later found unresponsive and eventually succumbed to his injuries.
The lawsuit says that the jail disregarded Terry’s medical needs and that it had deprived him and other inmates of their constitutional rights. Additionally, the complaint alleges Terry was mistreated while in custody. These complaints allege a direct violation of the inmates’ Eighth Amendment constitutional rights which protect against cruel and unusual punishment.
The second lawsuit also highlights the alleged negligent actions that led to the deaths of Alan Kerber and Victoria Simon. That lawsuit argues that the jail and officials showed “deliberate indifference” to these inmates and others, which resulted in their deaths.
The lawsuit further highlights similar allegations of beatings that inmates were subjected to. For example, inmate D’Alessandro Chavez-Sandova was the subject of one of these beatings. Video of an officer beating Chavez-Sandova was released to the public several months ago and paints a stark picture of the abuse the lawsuits allege inmates are subjected to while behind bars.
The lawsuits against the Sheriff's office and other officials come after mounting complaints from inmates and their families. There have also been several investigations looking into how the jail operates and how officials and staff follow or enforce protocols.
The lawsuits accuse the Harris County Sheriff’s Office of creating a “culture of death” in the jailhouse and that the facility has “become a place of torment and punishment.”
Officials have responded to the allegations made in the lawsuits. The Sheriff’s office states that conditions inside the jail have improved, citing that the jail's mortality rate is far lower than the statewide jail mortality rate.
According to the digital outlet, Axios Austin, over 49 deaths per 10,000 incarcerated people, roughly 700 total deaths, occurred in Texas in 2020. This is a roughly 60% rise in the mortality rate from the year before.
"The solutions are not simple, but we hold every life in our jail as precious,” Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a statement. “I want every family that has lost a loved one in the jail to know they have my sincere sympathy and my pledge to continue striving to make our jail even safer."
