Another Harris County inmate with virus dies
A third Harris County jail inmate diagnosed with COVID-19 died on Wednesday, according to the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office.
Spokesman Jason Spencer said the man — whose identity has not yet been made public — was between the ages of 65 and 75. Spencer said the inmate fell ill Friday and was taken to a local hospital, where he was tested.
He had been in jail since last year, after being charged with drug possession and a motion to revoke his parole.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences in conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The death marks the third time since May 6 that a Harris County jail inmate diagnosed with COVID-19 has died.
As of Wednesday, 1,513 Harris County Jail inmates have been tested for coronavirus. Of those, 718 have tested positive and 778 tested negative. The rest are awaiting results. Of the 718 inmates who have tested positive since the pandemic began, 278 have recovered and 130 have shown no symptoms.
The sheriff ’s office’s first COVID-19-related death came May 6, a 55-year-old inmate named Arnold Cordess Hall.
A second inmate died a day later — 30-year-old Jerome Nebuwa. Officials said that while Nebuwa tested positive, they didn’t believe the illness was the cause of his death.
The same day Nebuwa died, another man passed away as well, from an apparent heart attack..
Advocates for the criminally accused said death highlights the plight of elderly and medically ill inmates.
“Everyone tends to focus on nursing homes but we forget about the elderly and medically vulnerable human beings in jails which will continue to be hot spots for a long time unless we drastically reduce the population,” said Krish Gundu, with the Texas Jail Project. “It’s tragic that a motion to revoke parole turned into a death sentence.”