Former Harris County Jail warden charged in 2021 death of inmate: District Attorney

HOUSTON – On Thursday, a former Harris County jail officer was charged in connection with the death of an inmate since 2021, the first time charges have been brought for death in custody in prison, according to the Harris County District Attorney. Office.

Eric Niles Morales, 28, of Houston, has been charged with the manslaughter of Jaquari Simmons, a 23-year-old Houstonian who was found unconscious in his cell during Winter Storm Uri on February 17, 2021.

The Harris County medical examiner ruled that Simmons died from blunt force trauma to the head, prosecutors said.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez fired 11 wardens. and suspended six more people after an investigation. Morales is the only defendant in the death.

Investigators said Simmons was arrested and jailed on February 10, 2021 on weapons charges. Six days later, investigators say Simmons clogged the cell toilet with his clothes, causing it to overflow and flood his cell. Detention officers responded to Simmons’ cell to clean up the mess, leading to a physical confrontation between Simmons and the detention officers.

Afterwards, Simmons was left naked in his cell, which prosecutors say is a violation of prison policy.

When the officers of the detainees returned to the cell that night, Simmons reportedly threw his food tray at the officer and “attacked him,” according to the sheriff’s office. The officer then punched Simmons in the face and called for help to remove Simmons for a medical examination.

The detention center staff again used force, handcuffing and taking Simmons out of the cell. According to the sheriff’s office, it was in this confrontation that Simmons received “multiple blows to the head.” Simmons underwent a medical examination and was later returned to his cell, where he was left unattended due to a winter storm-related power outage and the inability of detention officers to make the necessary visual checks.

The next day, Simmons was found unconscious and lying on the floor of his cell, and later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The indictment says the detention officer assaulted Simmons by kneeing him in the head, banging his head against a door and dropping him on his head, resulting in his death, according to the district attorney.

“Regardless of why they are in prison, prisoners must be protected from unlawful attacks by the very people who are sworn to protect them and keep them safe,” said Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Clark of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office of Civil Rights. . “Harris County will prosecute those who break the law in prison, no matter which side of the bars they are on.”

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement regarding the incident:

“It has been almost two years since Jaquarie Simmons passed away from injuries sustained at the Harris County Jail. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office immediately conducted a thorough internal investigation, which found serious violations of the policy. Based on these findings, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez accepted his Administrative Disciplinary Committee’s recommendation to lay off 11 employees and suspend 6 other employees in May 2021 and publicly expressed sympathy to the Simmons family for the loss of a loved one.

The Houston Police Department conducted a separate criminal investigation into the events surrounding Simmons’ death. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office recently presented the results of a police investigation to a grand jury that returned an indictment against Eric Morales, a former detention officer, alleging he committed manslaughter. Morales was among 11 employees fired as a result of the sheriff’s office’s internal investigation.

In June 2021, the Sheriff’s Office implemented “Active Surveillance for Law Enforcement” (ABLE) and “Integrating Communications and Tactics” (ICAT) into the training program for all detainee officers. To date, 1,164 detention officers have been trained.”