In an unsettling series of events, two inmates have died following separate incidents at a Louisiana correctional center where they had been transferred from the Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas. The latest incident involves Jaleen Anderson, a 29-year-old man who was pronounced dead after experiencing a medical emergency at the Hardtner Medical Center Emergency Room on Wednesday, as KTRK reported.
Anderson, who had been booked on a methamphetamine possession charge on March 3 and moved to the privately-run LaSalle Correctional Center on March 22, had previously suffered seizures. "Supposedly, he had two seizures, and he told them that he was having another one, and right before the third one that it was gonna happen he had a heart attack," Harold Anderson, Jaleen's father, shared in a statement obtained by KTRK. His death raised questions amongst his family, concerned over the adequacy of the medical care provided to him in custody.
Earlier in the same week, another inmate, 35-year-old Billie Davis, was found unresponsive in an administrative cell at the same correctional center. His unresponsiveness was discovered shortly after he was reportedly taken there for disruptive behavior, according to the Houston Chronicle. Despite immediate life-saving efforts by medical staff, Davis was pronounced dead at a medical center. He had been arrested by Houston police on February 11 on a felony warrant for evading arrest and detention in a motor vehicle and was transferred to the LaSalle Correctional Center on February 25.
With these recent deaths, concerns over the transfer of inmates and their subsequent care have come to the forefront. Both KTRK and the Houston Chronicle note that an investigation into Anderson's death is ongoing by the Harris County Sheriff's Office, to ensure all laws and procedures were followed, with an autopsy to be performed by the LaSalle Parish Coroner's Office. Harris County itself saw a spike in inmate deaths in recent years, with a record 27 in 2022, and at least 19 in 2023. "Anyone having medical issues like that should be attacked, right then, promptly, like the first time it happens. Not the second and third," said Harold Anderson, advocating for better immediate response to urgent health concerns.
