Gary Ryan
Gary Ryan, 58, was a man whose family had lined up a job for him, planned to give him an old truck, and fixed up a house on the family property where he could live. He was held at the Estelle Unit, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison in Huntsville, where on August 30, 2018, according to the Texas Tribune, a correctional officer took him to the floor of a shower while he was handcuffed. TDCJ said he hit his head on the shower floor, and he underwent surgery for brain pressure before dying on September 12, 2018. The officer's account is that the head injury happened as he tried to put Ryan prone on the floor, and the family was first told of cardiac arrest, while the cause of death was still pending an autopsy when early reports were published. The officer was charged with aggravated assault, and as of early 2020 the case had not reached court.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed). TDCJ says Ryan hit his head on the shower floor during an August 2018 confrontation, and the officer's account is that the injuries came while he was put prone; the Attorney General's custodial death report and TDCJ's Office of the Inspector General both describe an officer's assault, and a former guard was charged with aggravated assault, which the officer disputes.
Reported by: Texas Department of Criminal Justice (the agency that held him); Texas Department of Criminal Justice Office of the Inspector General (outside investigators); Texas Office of the Attorney General (outside investigators).