Bell County releases some information on jail deaths as one family hires lawyer
Published: Mon, 10/31/22
Bell County releases some information on jail deaths as one family hires lawyer
Over the past 14 months, eight people have died while in custody at the Bell County Jail, according to information recently obtained by the Herald.
Courtesy Photo
Killeen Daily Herald
by By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula Herald correspondent
October 30, 2022 at 05:19PM
Over the past 14 months, eight people have died while in custody at the Bell County Jail, according to information recently obtained by the Herald; but, citing legal actions and privacy concerns, the county continues to withhold much information.
At least one family has hired an attorney from Dallas to represent them in a legal action, although the Herald has not located a lawsuit filed in either a state district court as a wrongful death claim or in federal court as a civil rights claim.
Juan Antonio Rodriguez, 39, died on Sept. 5, while in custody at the Bell County Jail. His brother, Luis Rios, told the Herald previously that Rodriguez died of a stroke after suffering seizures while withdrawing from narcotics. Rodriguez was booked into the Bell County Jail on the night of Aug. 25 after being arrested by Killeen police on two narcotics possession charges, jail records showed. He was held in lieu of bonds totaling $80,000. Rodriguez died less than two weeks later.
Rios told the Herald on Oct. 19, that his attorney has advised him to refrain from commenting to members of the media.
“I can say that I want justice for my brother and also for all the people who have died in there,” Rios said.
Through Public Information Act requests on Sept. 15 and Oct. 4, the Herald requested information on the deaths of inmates. The two names that are known — Indrel Green and Rodriguez — are because their families reached out to the newspaper.
The Herald and the county are awaiting an opinion by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
“The name, age, date of death and cause and manner of death are all considered protected health information under the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) privacy rule...” according to the response by Naman Howell Smith & Lee, the law firm that represents Bell County, on Oct. 17.
The county also cited attorney-client privilege as a reason to withhold information related to the deaths.
“The county has been a party to lawsuits related to deaths at the jail and has otherwise consulted with legal counsel on issues related to in-custody deaths,” said James Stafford, Bell County’s public information officer, in an email on Sept. 29. “These communications are attorney-client privileged...”
Since Rodriguez’s death, the county has acquired a different contractor to provide medical services to people who are incarcerated at the county jail.
“WellPath is no longer the county’s medical contractor for the jail,” Stafford said in an email on Oct. 19. “The contract with WellPath expired on Sept. 30. Turn Key Health Clinics became our new contractor beginning on Oct. 1.”
Turn Key Health, based in Oklahoma City, specializes in providing health care to incarcerated people.
DEATHS AT THE BELL COUNTY JAIL:
37-year-old man died on Aug. 20, 2021
Indrel Green, 48, died on Sept. 1, 2021
63-year-old man died on Sept. 6, 2021
56-year-old woman died on Sept. 10, 2021
35-year-old woman died on March 16, 2022
60-year-old man died on Aug. 6, 2022
49-year-old man died on Aug. 28, 2022
Juan Antonio Rodriguez, 39, died on Sept. 5, 2022