TEXAS CUSTODIAL
DEATH REPORT
Police, jail, and prison deaths
2005-2015

July 2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This report was written and researched by Amanda Woog, JD, postdoctoral legal fellow at the Institute for Urban
Policy Research and Analysis (IUPRA) at the University of Texas at Austin and project director of the Texas Justice
Initiative. Production assistance was provided by Samantha White-Wilson, multimedia communications specialist
at IUPRA, and research assistance was provided by Roderick Taylor, student assistant at IUPRA. Thanks to Scott
Henson, Amanda Marzullo, and Robert Pinkard, who provided critical feedback and assistance with the publication
of this report and www.TexasJusticeInitiative.org, and Dr. Shetal Vohra-Gupta, associate director of IUPRA and Dr.
Kevin Cokley, director of IUPRA, for their encouragement and support in the conception and launch of this project.
We are also grateful to the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice at the University of Texas School of Law
and the France-Merrick Foundation for recognizing the value of this project and their contributions to its creation.
Finally, many thanks to Professor Michele Deitch, senior lecturer at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
and the University of Texas School of Law; Dr. Kali Gross, professor of African American Studies at Wesleyan
University; and Professor Jennifer Laurin, professor of law at the University of Texas School of Law, for their advice,
feedback, candor, and support.

July 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 1
Executive Summary............................................................................................................................ 2
The Data ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Data Highlights.................................................................................................................................... 4
Deaths in Police Encounters.......................................................................................................... 5
Deaths in Jails.................................................................................................................................. 6
Deaths in Prisons............................................................................................................................ 7
Conclusion and Next Steps................................................................................................................ 8
Endnotes............................................................................................................................................... 9
Appendix...................................................................................................................................... 10-19
Custodial Death Reporting Form ......................................................................................... 11-14
Table 1. Age of decedent by race/ethnicity and gender............................................................ 15
Table 2. Custody type by race/ethnicity and gender................................................................ 15
Table 3. Deaths in police encounters by age, race/ethnicity, and gender............................... 16
Table 4. Deaths in jails by age, race/ethnicity, and gender...................................................... 16
Table 5. Deaths in prisons by age, race/ethnicity, and gender................................................. 17
Table 6. Cause of death by race/ethnicity and gender.............................................................. 17
Table 7. Deaths in police encounters by cause of death, race/ethnicity, and gender............ 18
Table 8. Deaths in jails by cause of death, race/ethnicity, and gender................................... 18
Table 9. Deaths in prisons by cause of death, race/ethnicity, and gender.............................. 19

July 2016

TEXAS CUSTODIAL
DEATH REPORT
Police, jail, and prison deaths
2005-2015

INTRODUCTION
From 2005 to 2015, Texas executed 195 people for capital
crimes.1 Every time the state executes a condemned person
media cover the execution extensively. Accounts include
details about the person’s last meal,2 final words,3 and number
of minutes between the administration of the lethal injection
and death.4
Also from 2005 to 2015, a reported 6,913 people died in the
custody of law enforcement and other state officials in Texas.5
These deaths occurred in local jail cells,6 in the backs of police
cars,7 and on prison sidewalks.8 More than 1,900 of the people
who died (28%) had not been convicted of, or in many cases,
even charged with a crime. Despite recent growing interest
in counting and reporting on custodial and police-involved
deaths, most of the nearly 7,000 people who died have never
had their stories told, and aggregate data regarding the
manner and locations of their deaths have not been widely
available. Unlike state-sanctioned executions, which occur on
a set schedule and venue and are painstakingly documented,
these extra-judicial deaths in custody are diffuse. They occur
at every point and phase of our criminal justice system, in a
manner that remains largely untracked and unexamined.
This is where the Texas Justice Initiative (TJI) seeks to

July 2016

make an impact. TJI, a project of the Institute for Urban
Policy Research and Analysis at the University of Texas at
Austin, launched an online interactive database at 		
www.TexasJusticeInitiative.org of custodial deaths reported
in Texas from 2005 through 2015. The database’s filtering
options allow visitors to approach the data with their own
questions, such as the extent to which black people are overrepresented in deaths in police interactions, or how causes
of death vary by type of jail. The website is a starting point
and tool for anyone interested in learning more about or
contributing to the conversations around some of the most
pressing problems of our times: the human toll and disparate
impacts of mass incarceration and policing.
TJI’s goals are to bring attention to the hundreds of people
who die yearly in Texas’s criminal justice system; to provide
a resource for researchers, policymakers, and community
members to interrogate the system which results in so many
casualties; and ultimately to reduce the number of deaths. In the
next phase of this project, we will gather additional information
on these deaths and the lives of the people who died from news
reports and other public sources, family members, and loved
ones. We welcome feedback, comments, and collaboration.

1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides an introduction to the data – where
it came from, and what it can tell us – and also gives readers
a high-level view of what we’ve seen so far and some notable
data points. Together with the TJI website, it provides initial
observations about who is dying in the Texas criminal justice
system and how they are dying. Some observations include:
•	

•	

compared to 31% of non-natural deaths for males
and females of other races/ethnicities.
­­ Alcohol/drug intoxication was the leading cause of
non-natural deaths for black and Latina women.
Alcohol/drug intoxication accounted for 37% of
black female non-natural deaths and 32% of Latina
female non-natural deaths, as compared to 12-17%
of non-natural deaths for both males and females of
other races/ethnicities.

The racial disparities we see in Texas’s criminal justice
system generally translate into racial disparities in
custodial mortality. For example, while black people
made up 12% of the state’s population in 2010, they
comprised 36% of the incarcerated population in Texas
in 2005-2014, and accounted for 30% of the deaths in
custody in 2005-2015.9
When excluding natural causes, cause of death varied
widely by demographic.
­­ Justifiable homicide was the leading cause of nonnatural deaths for black and Latino males. Justifiable
homicide accounted for 30% of black male nonnatural deaths and 34% of Latino male non-natural
deaths, as compared to 24% of white male nonnatural deaths.
­­ Suicide was the leading cause of non-natural deaths
for both white men and white women. Suicides
accounted for 47% of white male non-natural deaths
and 49% of white female non-natural deaths, as

•	

Current pre-trial and bail practices keep tens of
thousands of people in Texas jails without conviction of
a crime.10 As a result, 76% of the people who died in jail
had not been convicted of a crime, with 16% of those
people having not even been charged.

•	

Pre-booking deaths reported by law enforcement have
been on the rise since 2005, having more than doubled
from the fewest reported deaths in 2006 (74) to the most
reported deaths in 2015 (152).

•	

Close to half of the people who died in prisons (48%) had
been in custody for less than five years.

•	

Forty-one percent of people who died in jails were
reported to have appeared intoxicated, exhibited
mental health problems, or exhibited medical problems
upon entry into the facility.

The reporting requirement
Under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 49.18, if a person dies in police, jail, or prison
custody, or as the result of a peace officer’s use of force, the person in charge of the custodial
institution (i.e. the sheriff or the director of the facility) must file a custodial death report within 30
days of the death. The report is four pages long and includes information such as the name of the
facility; the name, age, and race/ethnicity of the person who died; and where and how the death
occurred. The person completing the form must also attach a summary of how the death occurred.11
The reporting requirement is backed by a criminal penalty for failure to report. Under section
39.05 of the Texas Penal Code, “Failure to Report Death of a Prisoner” is a Class B misdemeanor.
However, enforcement of the law depends on local law enforcement pursuing charges against local law
enforcement or prison officials. We did not find a single prosecution under this section of the Penal Code.

July 2016

2

Figure 1. Number of deaths per year by custody type
Total= 6,913

Police

800

Jail
74

600
83
400

106

126
449

100
117
440

89
103
472

85
83
432

356

97
91
382

80
91
423

112

124

83

109

467

438

2012

2013

122

152

Prison

87

115

409

416

2014

2015

200

0
2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

THE DATA

“Justifiable homicide”

Law enforcement agencies, local jails, and the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) are required
to report to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG)
every time a person dies in the custody of the agency or
institution.12 This reporting requirement includes events
such as deaths by natural causes in prisons, deaths by
suicide in jails, and deaths by police-officer shooting in
facilitating an arrest.
We obtained, by public information request to the
OAG, a database that includes information on all deaths
reported under this law that occurred between January
2005 and December 2015. After learning that TDCJ did
not report deaths that occurred in in-patient settings
prior to 2013, we obtained, by public information request,
custodial death data from TDCJ that the department
submitted under the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics
Deaths in Custody reporting program. Unless otherwise
indicated, the information in this report is based on the
OAG database, as supplemented by the data received from
TDCJ. This information is now available to the public at
TJI’s website, www.TexasJusticeInitiative.org.

July 2016

Justifiable homicide is the problematic term
used to describe most deaths by police shooting.
Using this term to report these deaths by law
enforcement is a problem for three main reasons. 1)
Calling a homicide “justifiable” appears conclusory
when it is not clear who made the decision that
it was justifiable and what kind of investigation
took place. 2) The term is both under inclusive
and over inclusive with respect to officer-involved
shootings; it can include cases in which police were
not involved and also leave out police shootings not
considered justifiable. 3) It casts the conversation in
terms of the legal question of justifiability, which
distracts from the question of preventability.
Use of this term to describe deaths by officerinvolved shooting is not unique to Texas. The FBI’s
Uniform Crime Reporting Program also reports on
“justifiable homicide,” which it defines as “the killing
of a felon by a peace officer in the line of duty.”

3

Figure 2. Race/ethnicity and causes for all deaths in custody

28%

30%

4%

Total= 6,913

11%
70%
4%

1%

2%

8%
42%

African American

Natural Causes/Illness	

Anglo 		

Justifiable Homicide
Alcohol/Drug Intoxication

Hispanic

Accidental Injury

Other

Suicide
Other

DATA HIGHLIGHTS
Overview

•	

Twenty-eight percent of reported decedents (1,942
people) died before having been convicted of the
alleged crime.

•	

Sixty-eight percent of deaths (4,684) occurred in prisons,
16% (1,111) occurred in jails, and 16% (1,118) occurred in
police interactions or police custody.

Decedent Characteristics
•	

Although black people made up 12% of Texas’s
population in 2010,13 they comprised 36% of the
incarcerated population in 2005-201414 (the last year for
which data were available), and 30% of custodial deaths
in 2005-2015.

•	

White people made up 45% of Texas’s population
in 2010,15 but comprised 31% of the incarcerated
population in 2005-2014,16 and 42% of custodial deaths
in 2005-2015.

•	

•	

Latinos/as accounted for 38% of Texas’s population
in 2010,17 and comprised 32% of the incarcerated
population between 2005 and 2014,18 and 28% of
custodial deaths in 2005-2015.

•	

July 2016

Cause of Death

The top three causes of death in custody were
natural causes/illness (70%), suicide (11%), and
“justifiable homicide” (8%).

Other notable findings

4

The most custodial deaths to occur in a single year was
683 in 2015, compared to an average of 623 per year over
the previous ten years.

Figure 3. Race/ethnicity and causes for deaths in police encounters

50%
27%

33%

Total= 1,118
15%

7%

2%

38%

16%

9%

African American

Natural Causes/Illness	

Anglo 		

Justifiable Homicide

4%

Alcohol/Drug Intoxication

Hispanic

Accidental Injury

Other

Suicide
Other

Deaths in Police Encounters
Decedent Characteristics

Other notable findings

•	

•	

While Latinos/as represented 27% of deaths in jails or
prison custody, they accounted for 33% of deaths in
police interactions.
­­ The reverse held for white people, who represented
42% of deaths in jail or prison custody and 38% of
deaths in police interactions.

•	

The median age of a white person who died in an
encounter with police was 38, for black people was 31,
and for Latinos/as was 30.

•	

Close to 90% of people who died in encounters with
police had not been charged with a crime.

­­ This increase is largely due to increases in deaths
by suicide, justifiable homicide, other homicide,
and “other.”
­­ Deaths by “other” went from zero reported in 2005
to 29 reported in 2015. These deaths fell into three
categories: officer-involved shootings (12), a person
becoming unresponsive after being handcuffed
(10), and a person becoming unresponsive after
being tased (7).

Cause of Death
•	

“Justifiable homicide” was the most common cause of
death in police encounters at 50%, followed by suicide at
16% and alcohol/drug intoxication at 15%.

July 2016

Pre-custody deaths reported by law enforcement
agencies increased by 83% from 2005 to 2015 (from 83
to 152) and more than doubled since 2006, the year with
the fewest reported deaths (74).

5

Figure 4. Most common causes for death in jails by percentage
Total= 1,111

County Jail

60%
59%

Municipal Jail

40%
36%
32%
26%

20%

20%

6%

0
Natural Causes

Suicide

Alcohol/Drug Intoxication

Deaths in Jails
Decedent Characteristics
•	
•	

health problems, or exhibited medical problems upon
entry into the facility.

White people were most represented in jail deaths (44%) when
compared with police deaths (38%) and prison deaths (42%).

The average number of deaths in jails per year from
2005 to 2015 was 101. The highest number of deaths
occurred in 2006 and 2015, which saw 126 and 115
deaths respectively.

•	

Between 2005 and 2015, 130 people reportedly died in
municipal jails, with 32% of those deaths having been
caused by alcohol/drug intoxication and 36% by suicide.

Seventy-six percent of the people who died in jails had not
been convicted of the crime for which they were being held.

Cause of Death
•	

•	

Cause of death in jails varied by race/ethnicity and gender.
­­ Suicide was the cause of death for 36% of white people
who died in jails, while it accounted for 29% of deaths
of Latinos/as and 11% of deaths of black people.

­­ By comparison, between 2005 and 2015, 970
people reportedly died in county jails, with 6% of
those deaths having been caused by alcohol/drug
intoxication and 26% by suicide.

­­ Alcohol/drug intoxication was the cause of death
for 20% of black women who died in jails, while it
accounted for 12% of deaths of white and Latina
women, 9% of deaths of Latino men, 8% of deaths of
white men, and 7% of deaths of black men.

­­ Natural causes accounted for 20% of deaths in
municipal jails and 59% of deaths in county jails.
•	

Other notable findings
•	

Forty-one percent of people who died in jails were
reported to have appeared intoxicated, exhibited mental

July 2016

6

Forty-one percent of people who died in jails had been in
custody for seven or fewer days.

Figure 5. Length of time in custody for prison deaths
Total= 4,684
< 1%

0-5 years

5%

6%

5-10 years

12%

10-15 years
48%

15-20 years

13%

20-25 years
25+ years

16%

N/A

Deaths in Prisons
Decedent Characteristics
•	

•	

was 72 for persons born in 1970 (the earliest year
for which the Texas Department of State Health
Services calculated life expectancy).20

While white people made up on average 31% of the
prison population from 2005 to 2014 (the last year for
which TDCJ data were available),19 they made up 42% of
prison deaths from 2005 to 2015.

Cause of Death

The median age of a person who died in prison custody
between 2005 and 2015 was 54.
­­ White people who died in prisons were older than
people of other races or ethnicities who died in
prison. The median age of white decedents was
57, while the median age for black and Latino/a
decedents was 53.

Natural causes accounted for 90% of prison deaths
between 2005 and 2015.

•	

For people ages 35 and under, the leading cause of death
was suicide.

Other notable findings

­­ While 90% of reported deaths were caused by
natural causes, this median age of death is far below
the life expectancy of the average Texan, which

July 2016

•	

7

•	

The average number of deaths in prisons per year from 2005
to 2015 was 426. The highest numbers of deaths occurred in
2008 and 2012, with 472 and 467 deaths, respectively.

•	

Forty-eight percent of people who died in prisons from
2005 to 2015 had been in custody for less than five years.

CONCLUSION AND NEXT STEPS
beginning and not an end to research around these questions.
We also welcome critical examination of the data; reporting
of a death by the custodian responsible for a person’s wellbeing should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism. In
this vein, we have begun to identify blind spots in the data
collection. For example, transgender people are rendered
virtually invisible by the reporting form, which does not
instruct on how to identify gender, and does not have an
option for transgender or nonbinary gender identities. As we
delve more deeply into this data, we must also think critically
about how stories around these deaths are told, and who has
the privilege of telling them.
For this reason, in the next phase of this project we hope
to incorporate different accounts of these deaths and also
the lives of the people who died. If you are interested in
contributing to this project, please contact us.

These early observations naturally spur additional
questions. Why have deaths reported by law enforcement
been rising? Is this a state or local problem? How can we
tackle jail deaths on a wide scale without leaving behind
populations that appear in lower numbers but are impacted
in distinct ways by policing and confinement, such as black
women, who die at higher rates of alcohol/drug intoxication
than other populations? Where are the gaps in medical care
in our criminal justice system and how can we improve
medical responses and outcomes? How many lives could
be saved by diverting people with mental health and/or
substance use issues from the criminal justice system into
proper treatment settings? We hope that the launch of this
website and the publication of this report bring additional
study to the questions the data raise.
In this way, the data published in this report and at 	
www.TexasJusticeInitiative.org should be treated as a

For more information, contact:
Amanda Woog, JD
info@texasjusticeinitiative.org
www.TexasJusticeInitiative.org
Texas Justice Initiative
c/o Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis
The University of Texas at Austin
210 W. 24th Street E3600
Austin, TX 78712

July 2016

8

ENDNOTES
1.	
2.	

3.	

4.	

5.	

6.	

7.	

8.	

Tex. Dep’t of Criminal Justice, Executions December 7,
1982 through April 7, 2016, https://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/
death_row/dr_executions_by_year.html.
See, e.g., Manny Fernandez, Texas Death Row Kitchen Cooks Its
Last ‘Last Meal,’ N.Y. Times, Sept. 22, 2011, http://www.nytimes.
com/2011/09/23/us/texas-death-row-kitchen-cooks-its-lastlast-meal.html.
See, e.g., Jolie McCullough, Texas Executes Man Courts
Recognized as Mentally Ill, The Texas Tribune, Mar. 22, 2016,
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/03/22/execution-set-mancourts-recognize-mentally-ill/.
See, e.g., Michael Graczyk, Texas man executed for killing city code
enforcement worker, The Houston Chronicle, Apr. 20, 2016,
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Texas-man-executed-forkilling-city-code-7278849.php.
Unless otherwise noted, the data in this report is derived from
information received via public information request from the
Texas Office of the Attorney General and the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice relating to custodial deaths from 2005 to
2015.
According to the custodial death report filed by the River
Oaks Police Department, Christine Sexton, a 40-year-old
white woman, died Feb. 6, 2013 in a cell in the River Oaks
City Jail from suicide by asphyxiation. She had been arrested
and booked in the jail on Feb. 2, 2013 for outstanding Class C
misdemeanor warrants for not having a valid driver’s license
and failure to appear.
According to the custodial death report filed by the Temple
Police Department, Curtis Lee Lewis, a 56-year-old black man,
died Jan. 10, 2005 after being found nonresponsive following
transport in a police vehicle to the emergency room. Officers
had been dispatched to respond to a fight call and found Lewis
“lying face up in the street screaming and holding a cooking
pot in both hands and banging it on the ground on either side
of his head.” Officers placed Lewis in handcuffs and then a
hobble restraint in the patrol car in order to transport him to
the emergency room for a “mental evaluation.” After Lewis
was transported, placed on a stretcher, and taken into the
emergency room, it was “determined that Lewis ha[d] no pulse
and [was] not breathing.” He was pronounced deceased less
than an hour after the initial police encounter.
According to the custodial death report filed by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice, Frederick Loeber, a 49-year-old

July 2016

9.	

10.	

11.	

12.	
13.	
14.	
15.	
16.	
17.	
18.	
19.	
20.	

9

white man, died Aug. 26, 2010 after being struck in the head by
another incarcerated person and then hitting his head when he
fell to the concrete sidewalk. He underwent emergency surgery,
which was ultimately unsuccessful.
The custodial death reports on which this report is based
include “Anglo,” “African-American,” and “Hispanic” as choices
in the question on “race/ethnic group.” This report uses the
terms “white,” “black,” and “Latino/a,” except in graphs and
tables.
In its most recent annual report, the Texas Commission on
Jail Standards reported that of the 63,989 inmates being held
in Texas county jails on Jan. 1, 2014, 60.55%, or 38,745 people,
were being detained pre-trial. Tex. Comm’n on Jail Standards,
2014 Annual Report 10-11 (2014), http://www.tcjs.state.tx.us/
docs/2014AnnualJailReport.pdf.
See Tex. Attorney General, Custodial Death Report,
https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/files/agency/custodial_death.
pdf. A copy of the form can be found supra page 11 in the
Appendix.
Tex. Code Crim. Proc. Art. 49.18.
United States Census Bureau, Texas Quickfacts,
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/48/
accessible#headnote-a.
Tex. Dep’t of Criminal Justice, Statistical Reports, 20052014, http://tdcj.state.tx.us/publications/index.html
United States Census Bureau, Texas Quickfacts,
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/48/
accessible#headnote-a.
Tex. Dep’t of Criminal Justice, Statistical Reports, 20052014, http://tdcj.state.tx.us/publications/index.html.
United States Census Bureau, Texas Quickfacts,
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/48/
accessible#headnote-a.
Tex. Dep’t of Criminal Justice, Statistical Reports, 20052014, http://tdcj.state.tx.us/publications/index.html.
Id.
Tex. Dep’t of State Health Services, Vital Statistics
Report table 24 (Life Expectancy at Birth for Selected Years)
(1990).

APPENDIX

July 2016

10

For reporting requirements and procedures, see Section 39.05 of the Penal Code, Article 49.18 (b)( c) of The Code of Criminal Procedure
and Article 501.055(b) of The Government Code.
Section 39.05 Failure to Report Death of Prisoner:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person is required to conduct an investigation and file a report by Article 49.18, Code of
Criminal Procedure, and the person fails to investigate the death, fails to file the report as required, or fails to include in a filed
report facts known or discovered in the investigation.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person is required by Section 501.055, Government Code, to:
(1) give notice of the death of an inmate and the person fails to give the notice; or
(2) conduct an investigation and file a report and the person:
(A) fails to conduct the investigation or file the report, or
(B) fails to include in the report facts known to the person or discovered by the person in the investigation.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
Article 49.18 (a) (b) (c ) (d) . Death in Custody
(a) If a person confined in a penal institution dies, the sheriff or other person in charge of the penal institution shall as soon as
practicable inform the justice of the peace of the precinct where the penal institution is located of the death.
(b) If a person dies while in the custody of a peace officer or as a result of a peace officer's use of force or if a person incarcerated in a
jail, correctional facility, or state juvenile facility dies, the director of the law enforcement agency of which the officer is a member
or of the facility in which the person was incarcerated shall investigate the death and file a written report of the cause of death with
the attorney general no later than the 30th day after the date on which the person in custody or the incarcerated person died. The
director shall make a good faith effort to obtain all facts relevant to the death and include those facts in the report. The attorney
general shall make the report, with the exception of any portion of the report that the attorney general determines is privileged,
available to any interested person.
( c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a death that occurs in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice. Subsection (b) does not apply to a death that occurs in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice if the death occurs under circumstances described by Section 501.055(b)(2), Government Code.
(d) In this article:
(1) "Correctional facility" means a confinement facility or halfway house operated by or under contract with any division of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
(2) "In the custody of a peace officer" means:
(A) under arrest by a peace officer; or
(B) under the physical control or restraint of a peace officer.
(3) "State juvenile facility" means any facility or halfway house:
(A) operated by or under contract with the Texas Youth Commission; or
(B) described by Section 51.02 (13) or (14), Family Code.

Mail to: Office of the Attorney General
Criminal Law Enforcement Division
P.O. Box 12548
Austin, Texas 78711-2548
(512)463-2170
Section I
1. Agency/Facility Information
Name of Agency/Facility:
Address:
City, Zip Code:
Telephone Number:
Signature of Director of Agency/Facility (Required):
Name of Person Filling out Form:
Email of Person Filling out Form:

Revised 5/06 replaces form of 07/03 which is obsolete

July 2016

11

Date of Report: _________________________

2.

Identity of Deceased:
First Name:_____________________________________
Middle Name: ___________________________________
Last Name: _____________________________________
Suffix: _________________________________________
Race/Ethnic Group: □ African/American
□ American Indian/Alaska Native □ Anglo □ Asian
□ Hispanic □ Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
□ Middle East □ Other - Specify: ___________________

9.

Was the cause of death the result of a pre-existing
medical condition or did the deceased develop the
condition after admission?
□ Pre-existing medical condition
□ Developed condition after admission
□ Not applicable; cause of death was accidental injury,
intoxication, suicide or homicide
□ Don't know

10.

Had the deceased been receiving treatment for the
medical condition after admission to your jail's
jurisdiction?
□ Not applicable
□ No
□ Yes - If yes, describe below (include only treatment and
medication related to the medical condition that caused the
deceased's death. Exclude emergency care provided at time
of death):
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________

11.

What type of custody/facility was the offender in/at
prior to the time of death?
□ Police Custody (pre-booking)
□ Penitentiary
□ Municipal Jail
□ County Jail

12.

Specific type of custody/facility:
□ Custody of Peace Officer during/fleeing arrest
□ Custody of Peace Officer subsequent to arrest
□ TDCJ-ID (Unit) _______________________________
□ Jail - single cell
□ Jail - detox cell
□ Jail - multiple occupancy cell
□ Jail - holding cell
□ Jail - day room/recreation area
□ Correctional/Rehabilitation Facility
□ Hospital/Infirmary
□ Halfway House/Restitution Center
□ Non-law enforcement detox facility
Name: ________________________________________
□ TYC - Facility: ________________________________
□ TJPC Detention Center: _________________________

Sex: □ Male □ Female
Date of Birth:
Month: __________ Day: __________ Year: __________
Age: __________
3.

Date/Time of Custody (arrest/incarceration):
Month:__________ Day__________Year:____________
Time: Hour:________Min:________ □ am □ pm

4.

Date/Time of Death:
Month:__________ Day__________Year:____________
Time: Hour:________Min:________ □ am □ pm

5.

Where did the event causing the death occur?
Street address: ___________________________________
City: __________________________________________
County: ________________________________________

6.

Has a medical examiner or coroner conducted an
evaluation to determine a cause of death?
□ Yes, results are available
□ Yes, results are pending
□ No, evaluation pending
□ No, evaluation not planned

7.

Manner of death:
□ Accidental injury to self
□ Accidental injury caused by others
□ Alcohol/Drug intoxication
□ Justifiable Homicide
□ Other Homicide
□ Suicide
□ Natural Causes/Illness - Specify: __________________
□ Other - Specify: ________________________________

8.

Medical Cause of Death:

Revised 5/06 replaces form of 07/03 which is obsolete

July 2016

12

13.

What were the most serious offense(s) with which
the deceased was (or would have been) charged with
at the time of death (REQUIRED):
1._____________________________________________
2._____________________________________________
3._____________________________________________

18.

At any time during the arrest/incident did the
deceased: (Mark ALL that apply)
□ Appear intoxicated (either alcohol or drugs)?
□ Threaten the officer(s) involved?
□ Resist being handcuffed or arrested?
□ Try to escape/flee from custody?
□ Grab, hit or fight with the officer(s) involved?
□ Use a weapon to threaten or assault the officer(s)?
Specify: ______________________________________
□ Other - specify:________________________________
□ Not applicable

19.

Where did the deceased die?
□ At law enforcement facility
□ At the crime/arrest scene
□ At medical facility
□ En route to medical facility
□ En route to booking center/police lockup
□ Elsewhere - Specify: ____________________________

20.

What was the time and date of the deceased's entry
into the law enforcement facility where the death
occurred?
□ N/A
Month:__________ Day__________Year:____________
Time: Hour:________Min:________ □ am □ pm

21.

At the time of entry into the facility did the deceased:
(Mark ALL that apply)
□ Appear intoxicated (either alcohol or drugs)?
□ Exhibit any mental health problems?
□ Exhibit any medical problems?
□ Not applicable

22.

If death was an accident or homicide, who caused
the death?
□ Deceased
□ Other detainees
□ Law enforcement/correctional staff
□ Other persons - specify: _________________________
□ Don't know
□ Not applicable; cause of death was suicide, intoxication
or illness/natural causes

□ Filed
□ Convicted
□ Probation/Parole
□ Not filed at time of death
Type of Charges:
□ Violent crime against persons
□ Child abuse
□ Serious crime against property
□ Alcohol/drug offense
□ Other-specify: _________________________________
14.

Did the deceased die from a medical condition or from
injuries sustained at the crime/arrest scene?
□ Medical condition only
□ Injuries only
□ Both medical condition and injuries
□ Don't know
□ Not applicable

15.

If injured at the crime/arrest scene, how were these
injuries sustained?
□ Inflicted by law enforcement officers
□ Inflicted by others at crime/arrest scene
□ Self-inflicted - accidental
□ Self-inflicted - suicide
□ Unknown
□ Not applicable

16.

Was the deceased under restraint in the time leading
up to the death or the events causing the death?
□ No
□ Yes
If yes, mark which restraint devices were used:
□ Handcuffs
□ Leg shackles
□ Other device - specify: __________________________

17.

What type of weapon(s) caused the death? (Mark ALL
that apply)
□ Handgun
□ Rifle/Shotgun
□ Nightstick or baton
□ Stun gun or tazer
□ Other - specify: ________________________________
□ Not applicable

Revised 5/06 replaces form of 07/03 which is obsolete

July 2016

13

23.

If death was an accident, homicide or suicide, what
was the means of death?
□ Firearm
□ Blunt instrument
□ Knife, cutting instrument
□ Hanging, strangulation
□ Drug overdose
□ Other - specify: _______________________________
□ Don't know
□ Not applicable; cause of death was intoxication or
illness/natural causes

24.

ATTACH A SUMMARY OF HOW THE DEATH OCCURRED:

Revised 5/06 replaces form of 07/03 which is obsolete

July 2016

14

Table 1. Age of decedent by race/ethnicity and gender
17 & under

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

TOTAL

African
American

6

113

285

336

615

702

2060

Male

6

107

265

298

563

679

1921

Female

0

6

20

38

52

23

139

9

109

294

397

734

1322

2872

Male

6

99

263

352

685

1277

2689

Female

3

10

31

45

49

45

183

Hispanic

17

143

287

326

521

616

1915

Male

15

141

273

308

505

608

1855

Female

2

2

14

18

16

8

60

2

5

13

12

17

16

66

Male

2

5

13

12

17

16

66

Female

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

34

370

879

1071

1887

2656

6913

Anglo

Other

TOTAL

Table 2. Custody type by race/ethnicity and gender
Police

Jail

Prison

TOTAL

302

320

1438

2060

290

275

1356

1921

12

45

82

139

422

486

1964

2872

Male

397

411

1881

2689

Female

25

75

83

183

Hispanic

371

289

1255

1915

Male

364

264

1227

1855

7

25

28

60

23

16

27

66

Male

23

16

27

66

Female

0

0

0

0

1118

1111

4684

6913

African American
Male
Female
Anglo

Female
Other

TOTAL

July 2016

15

Table 3. Deaths in police encounters by age, race/ethnicity, and gender
17 & under

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

N/A

TOTAL

African
American

4

65

127

52

42

12

0

302

Male

4

63

121

51

39

12

0

290

Female

0

2

6

1

3

0

0

12

6

57

109

103

87

60

0

422

Male

3

54

104

96

80

60

0

397

Female

3

3

5

7

7

0

0

25

Hispanic

16

81

125

99

32

15

3

371

Male

14

81

123

97

31

15

3

364

Female

2

0

2

2

1

0

0

7

2

2

11

4

4

0

0

23

Male

2

2

11

4

4

0

0

23

Female

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

28

205

372

258

165

87

3

1118

Anglo

Other

TOTAL

Table 4. Deaths in jails by age, race/ethnicity, and gender
17 & under

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

N/A

TOTAL

African
American

1

21

64

60

91

82

1

320

Male

1

19

56

47

74

77

1

275

Female

0

2

8

13

17

5

0

45

2

32

105

108

142

96

1

486

Male

2

27

86

88

120

87

1

411

Female

0

5

19

20

22

9

0

75

Hispanic

0

34

72

59

74

50

0

289

Male

0

32

63

55

68

46

0

264

Female

0

2

9

4

6

4

0

25

0

3

1

5

3

3

1

16

Male

0

3

1

5

3

3

1

16

Female

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

90

242

232

310

231

3

1111

Anglo

Other

TOTAL

July 2016

16

Table 5. Deaths in prisons by age, race/ethnicity, and gender
17 & under

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

55+

N/A

TOTAL

African
American

1

27

94

224

482

608

2

1438

Male

1

25

88

200

450

590

2

1356

Female

0

2

6

24

32

18

0

82

1

20

80

186

505

1166

6

1964

Male

1

18

73

168

485

1130

6

1881

Female

0

2

7

18

20

36

0

83

Hispanic

1

28

90

168

415

551

2

1255

Male

1

28

87

156

406

547

2

1227

Female

0

0

3

12

9

4

0

28

0

0

1

3

10

13

0

27

Male

0

0

1

3

10

13

0

27

Female

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

75

265

581

1412

2338

10

4684

Anglo

Other

TOTAL

Table 6. Cause of death by race/ethnicity and gender
Natural
Causes

Suicide

Justifiable
Homicide

Alcohol/Drug
Intoxication

Accidental

Other

TOTAL

African
American

1564

135

143

91

41

86

2060

Male

1455

128

139

80

37

82

1921

Female

109

7

4

11

4

4

139

2006

411

198

96

64

97

2872

Male

1900

373

187

86

57

86

2689

Female

106

38

11

10

7

11

183

Hispanic

1268

215

217

85

61

69

1915

Male

1230

207

215

78

57

68

1855

38

8

2

7

4

1

60

32

11

15

3

2

3

66

Male

32

11

15

3

2

3

66

Female

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4870

772

573

275

168

255

6913

Anglo

Female
Other

TOTAL

July 2016

17

Table 7. Deaths in police encounters by cause of death, race/ethnicity, and gender
Natural
Causes

Suicide

Justifiable
Homicide

Alcohol/Drug
Intoxication

Accidental

Other

TOTAL

African
American

18

33

141

60

20

30

302

Male

17

31

137

58

18

29

290

Female

1

2

4

2

2

1

12

21

95

194

49

23

40

422

20

91

183

48

18

37

397

1

4

11

1

5

3

25

Hispanic

7

41

212

53

31

27

371

Male

6

41

211

49

30

27

364

Female

1

0

1

4

1

0

7

0

5

15

2

1

0

23

Male

0

5

15

2

1

0

23

Female

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

46

174

562

164

75

97

1118

Anglo
Male
Female

Other

TOTAL

Table 8. Deaths in jails by cause of death, race/ethnicity, and gender
Natural
Causes

Suicide

Justifiable
Homicide

Alcohol/Drug
Intoxication

Accidental

Other

TOTAL

African
American

225

35

2

29

10

19

320

Male

193

32

2

20

9

19

275

Female

32

3

0

9

1

0

45

225

175

3

41

15

27

486

Male

189

151

3

32

13

23

411

Female

36

24

0

9

2

4

75

Hispanic

142

85

4

28

15

15

289

Male

130

78

3

25

14

14

264

Female

12

7

1

3

1

1

25

9

4

0

1

1

1

16

Male

9

4

0

1

1

1

16

Female

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

601

299

9

99

41

62

1111

Anglo

Other

TOTAL

July 2016

18

Table 9. Deaths in prisons by cause of death, race/ethnicity, and gender
Natural
Causes

Suicide

Justifiable
Homicide

Alcohol/Drug
Intoxication

Accidental

Other

TOTAL

African
American

1321

67

0

2

11

37

1438

Male

1245

65

0

2

10

34

1356

76

2

0

0

1

3

82

1760

141

1

6

26

30

1964

1691

131

1

6

26

26

1881

69

10

0

0

0

4

83

Hispanic

1119

89

1

4

15

27

1255

Male

1094

88

1

4

13

27

1227

25

1

0

0

2

0

28

23

2

0

0

0

2

27

Male

23

2

0

0

0

2

27

Female

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

4223

299

2

12

52

96

4684

Female
Anglo
Male
Female

Female
Other

TOTAL

July 2016

19