Ten people reportedly died while in Harris County Jail custody last year. That was a decrease from 2023, when 19 people died. Twenty-seven in-custody deaths were reported in 2022 — the highest number in nearly two decades, according to county records and data from the Texas Justice Initiative.
A 62-year-old man died in the Harris County Jail last week after detention officers discovered him unresponsive on his mattress, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Just before 10 p.m. Thursday, July 10, a detention officer administered CPR to Harold Alexander Jr. until medical personnel took him to the clinic in the jail facility at 1200 Baker Street, the sheriff’s office said. Alexander was pronounced dead just after 10:30 p.m. that day.
Alexander was arrested on a misdemeanor harassment charge and booked into the jail on June 25, court records show. The Texas Rangers are investigating the death. The sheriff’s office, which operates the jail, says it’s conducting an investigation to determine if all applicable policies and procedures were followed.
It’s at least the 11th inmate death this year at the downtown Houston jail. Alexis Jovany Cardenas — who was arrested for failing to appear in court for a decade-old traffic citation — died last week after the sheriff’s office said he got into an altercation with detention officers who were escorting him out of the jail. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards is investigating to determine whether Cardenas’ death should be considered an “in-custody” death, since the sheriff’s office says the 32-year-old Cardenas was being released.
In June, three jail inmates died within a 48-hour span.
