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Died in jail or a lockup

Fred Harris

19 years old · died October 31, 2021 · Harris County Detention Center, Harris County, Texas

Fred Harris was 19, a Stafford High School graduate with special needs and an intellectual disability, and his family remembers him as a loving, funny young man who loved to dance and always carried a toy karaoke microphone. In late October 2021 he was held in a holding cell at the Harris County Jail in Houston, where another man attacked him, and he died days later at a hospital. The Harris County Sheriff's Office called the death a murder, and Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said staffing played no role. His mother, Dallas Garcia, said she had asked jail staff to keep him out of general population, and her family's federal lawsuit says understaffing led staff to place him in a cell with a much larger man without adequate oversight. A detention officer testified that she had ordered him isolated for his safety, but that order was ignored, and the county later agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle the lawsuit.

Cause of death, as reported: Killed by another person in custody (neglect alleged). The sheriff called it a murder by another detainee, while his family's lawsuit says jail staff knew of his disabilities and placed him in a cell with a much larger man without adequate oversight, and the sheriff said staffing played no role.

Reported by: Harris County Sheriff's Office (the agency that held him); the county medical examiner; his mother and family attorney Randall Kallinen, in a federal lawsuit (family or their lawyers); court records and documents.

Lawsuit: His family sued Harris County and its sheriff's office in federal court, and the county agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle the lawsuit, with $50,000 of it going to his estate.

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