Members of the family and buddies are demanding solutions in regards to the circumstances surrounding Ronald Pate’s sudden demise inside the Harris County Jail final week.
The 35-year-old Pate, who was pulled over for dashing and arrested for an impressive warrant earlier this month, was jailed for 13 days earlier than he suffered a medical emergency inside the jail, based on the Harris County Sheriff’s Workplace. However Jeana Pate, his aunt, says Ronald Pate had no pre-existing medical circumstances and was not taking drugs earlier than he died.
“He was simply as wholesome,” she mentioned. “He’s a tile setter. He was going to work on a regular basis, no issues. So it took me again. I imply, I didn’t have phrases.”
5 days after she final heard from him, Jeana Pate acquired a name from the Harris County Chaplain, who advised her that Ronald Pate grew to become agitated for an unknown purpose. He was handled with a medicine and developed muscle atrophy, Jeana Pate says she was advised, including that her nephew then had seizures and went into cardiac arrest.
“I used to be advised that when he went into cardiac arrest, it took quarter-hour to revive him again,” Jeana Pate mentioned. “So I ask myself, was that as a result of they simply disregarded it, and didn’t come as quickly attainable, or did the ambulance come delayed? So I wish to resolve it and work out precisely what occurred.”
The Harris County Sheriff’s Workplace, which operates the downtown Houston jail, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Monday. The sheriff’s workplace beforehand confirmed Ronald Pate’s demise however didn’t present particulars in regards to the circumstances main as much as it.
Pate was amongst 10 individuals to have died this yr within the custody of the Harris County Jail, together with two different males who suffered sudden medical emergencies inside the jail final week — Alexander Winstel, 43, and Phillip Brummett, 68. The circumstances surrounding their deaths remains to be on the heart of investigations by the Houston Police Division and Texas Rangers.
Kim Wedemeier, a pal of Pate’s, described him as a mild big.
“He had a promising future,” she mentioned. “For this to occur to him could be very unhappy and I really feel terrible for his household, particularly for his little one. So it will be nice if we may work out what occurred to him and resolve this, and never solely him, however the different inmates, too.”
Sarah Grunau/Houston Public Media
Ten individuals reportedly died whereas in jail custody final yr, based on info launched by the sheriff’s workplace. That was a lower from 2023, when 19 individuals died. Twenty-seven in-custody deaths have been reported in 2022 — the best quantity in practically twenty years, based on county information and information from the Texas Justice Initiative.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences has not launched causes of demise for a lot of of those that have died within the jail this yr — leaving households like Pate’s at midnight. The health worker’s workplace has solely decided the reason for demise of 39-year-old Kristopher McGregor, who died in jail custody earlier this yr of sepsis related to kidney failure.
Randall Kallinen, a Houston-based civil rights legal professional, mentioned he’s working to obtain Pate’s medical information to find out if negligence was a consider his demise. He mentioned outdoors companies, just like the Texas Rangers, ought to proceed investigating jail deaths quite than native companies.
He mentioned it’s disconcerting when it takes too lengthy for health workers to conduct post-mortem reviews. Although post-mortem reviews are typically thought-about issues of public document, some reviews may be withheld from the general public if they’re on the heart of an ongoing investigation.
“The general public ought to know why individuals are passing away in Harris County,” Kallinen mentioned. “When an individual has handed away, they often do not need any extra privateness rights and the individuals ought to have a proper to know why individuals have handed away, particularly when they’re in custody of a authorities that they pay taxes for like Harris County.”
The demise of an inmate who died after being outsourced from the Harris County Jail to a personal facility in Louisiana is on the heart of a lawsuit filed in Harris County earlier this yr. Jaleen Anderson, 29, was one among 1000’s of pre-trial detainees who’ve been outsourced to different prisons due to the jail’s repeated failure to adjust to Texas’ mandated ratio of detention officers to inmates.
A couple of week after he arrived on the LaSalle Correctional Middle in Louisiana final yr, Anderson was transferred to a hospital after complaining of dizziness and vomiting. He was pronounced useless hours later. An post-mortem report reveals that Anderson died from a seizure dysfunction together with heart problems. Sarah Knight, his mom, mentioned the non-public facility repeatedly uncared for his and others’ pleas for medical care.
From 2023 by 2024, the Texas Fee on Jail Requirements issued 149 notices of noncompliance and referred the Harris County Jail to the Texas Legal professional Common’s Workplace earlier this yr after repeated violations. Final week, a consultant of the Texas Jail Mission known as on the AG’s workplace to file an injunction in opposition to the Harris County Jail as requested by the state fee in its final two quarterly conferences.
“They go in and so they don’t should die,” Wedemeier mentioned.
