Lawsuit Over Death or Severe Injury of 29 Houston Jail Detainees Survives Motion to Dismiss
by Matt Clarke
On October 7, 2024, the federal court for the Southern District of Texas refused a motion by Defendant Harris County Jail officials in Houston to fully dismiss claims made by two Plaintiffs who intervened in a massive suit filed after 27 jail detainees died or were severely injured.
The now-29 Plaintiffs—former detainees or family members of those who died in the jail between late-2021 and mid-2023—include five proceeding pro se: Tramell Morelle, Bernard Lockhart, Deborah Smith, Judith Jones and Jackie Luna. The rest are represented by attorneys Benjamin L. Crump and Paul A. Grinke from Ben Crump Law Office in Tallahassee, Florida and Frisco, Texas. Crump is known for representing victims of law enforcement abuse, including the family of George Floyd.
The suit was filed on August 7, 2022, making civil rights claims for unconstitutional conditions of confinement and failure to train or supervise staff, as well as violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. ch.126 § 12101, et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 701, et seq. The allegations are gruesome: detainees beaten nearly to death by guards or other prisoners, then simply allowed to languish for hours in pain until they expired. Other detainees were allegedly denied mental health medication and left to decompensate until their untreated psychosis so irritated guards or other detainees that they were beaten to death. Still, other detainees claimed that life-threatening medical emergencies went ignored while defendants failed to intervene or even encouraged violence between detainees.
In their unconstitutional conditions of confinement claim, Plaintiffs blamed five problematic jail policies or practices: (1) overcrowding and understaffing; (2) failure to properly observe and monitor detainees; (3) denial of medical care; (4) institutionalized use of excessive force by guards against detainees; and (5) a culture of violence encouraged by jailers.
On April 15, 2024, the Court rebuffed a motion by Defendants to sever the original case into 27 separate lawsuits, also allowing the two new intervenors: Ana Garcia, whose son, Kevin Alexander Sanchez-Trejo, died after complaining of severe abdominal pain for 80 days without receiving medical care, she claimed; and Chandra Jenkins, whose son, Dequon Buford, alleged repeated sexual assaults by other detainees because Defendants failed to protect him from abuse and then denied medical care after he was injured. The Court held that both had issues and questions of law and fact in common with the other Plaintiffs sufficient to permit intervention. See: Wagner v. Harris Cty., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68793 (S.D. Tex.).
ADA and RA claims by the original 27 Plaintiffs were dismissed on June 4, 2024, but not the unconstitutional conditions of confinement claim nor the claim for failure to train and supervise jail staff. See: Wagner v. Harris Cty., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98779 (S.D. Tex.). The Court’s most recent ruling extended that same decision to Intervenors Garcia and Jenkins. See: Wagner v. Harris Cty., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182546 (S.D. Tex.).
As PLN reported, the jail has repeatedly failed inspections by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. [See, e.g.: PLN, June 2024, p.47.] At the request of Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the FBI opened an investigation in February 2023 into jail deaths, including one the month before of detainee Jacoby Pillow, whose estate is lead Plaintiff in this suit. Prior to its filing, there were at least 51 lawsuits in state and federal court challenging conditions of confinement at the jail.
“We’ve all experienced the same loss, and we’re all seeking the same thing. We’re all seeking justice,” said Jacilet Griffin-Lee, whose son, Evan, died in the jail in March 2022 after being beaten by another detainee and allegedly denied adequate medical care. The case remains open. PLN will update developments as they are available. See: Wagner v. Harris Cty., USDC (S.D. Tex.), Case No. 4:23-cv-02886.
Additional source: ABC News
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