Inmate shot by police at Ben Taub taken off life support

The Harris County inmate shot by an officer earlier this month while holding a medical student hostage died Wednesday night, his family said.

Ricky Hall, 46, had been on life support at Ben Taub Hospital for nearly three weeks when his family decided to disconnect the tubes at 7:35 p.m. after a day of praying and agonizing.

Three minutes later, Hall died.

“He’s in a better place,” his mother, Elizabeth Keith, said. “He’s not suffering anymore.”

The Pasadena man, who had struggled with mental health issues for decades, took the student hostage Oct. 6.

Hall had been arrested six days earlier on a parole violation and a trio of new charges. The day after he was booked into jail, he was taken to Ben Taub for seizures.

Aside from recurring seizures, Hall struggled with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and drug addiction, according to his mother.

He was slated to go back to jail that Thursday, but hours before he would have been discharged, he grabbed a visiting student from Baylor College of Medicine.

Holding what appeared to be an edged metal band from a set of hospital-issued headphones, Hall wrapped his arm around her neck.

A deputy working an overtime security job on the fifth floor heard a scream and ran to the room. As the standoff moved out into the hallway, Hall repeatedly threatened to kill the woman if the deputy didn’t shoot him.

The situation escalated, and the deputy fired two shots, striking Hall.

Hall went into surgery and afterward was put on life support. Doctors said he suffered major brain damage from loss of oxygen after a bullet pierced his lung.

The sheriff’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Neither the student nor the deputy has been identified.

The family wasn’t informed of Hall’s condition until a patient advocate called the mother on Monday. The following evening, Hall’s mother, uncle, aunt and cousin came to the hospital.

Hall’s uncle, Ben Hogan, said he doesn’t blame the deputy — but he still wants answers as to why his nephew wasn’t better secured and guarded.

“Ricky may be a lifelong criminal, but he’s also the son of Elizabeth and the nephew of my wife, and I and we all, no matter what the circumstances are, still love him,” he wrote in an email. “We don’t approve or condone his actions, but he’s still family.”