David Whitlock
David Whitlock, a 46-year-old man, died in the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, in June 2001, according to a Texas Attorney General custodial death report. A 2007 Houston Chronicle account says he fell from his bunk, collapsed on the floor and died of heart failure about three hours later. The account says records suggest efforts to treat him may have been obstructed because an adult-sized breathing tube could not be found on the emergency cart. A former head nurse who questioned the death says she was fired in retaliation, and the jail said an internal nursing board investigation was closed without recommendation.
Cause of death, as reported: Died of illness (neglect alleged). Records reported by news outlets say he died of heart failure after falling from his bunk, and suggest that an adult-sized breathing tube missing from the emergency cart may have obstructed attempts to treat him, as a former head nurse who questioned the death says she was fired in retaliation.
Reported by: news reporting on jail records.