Senator blames staff shortages for Texas inmate's death

Staff shortages led to negligent care at Texas prison, senator says

AUSTIN – A key senator said Thursday that staff shortages led to conditions that allowed a Texas prison inmate to lie for two days with a broken back in his own filth on the floor of his cell before dying

"I think there's enough blame to go around," Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston, said after a hearing on the death. "The Legislature passes the budget and makes policy. I think the shortage of personnel played a critical role."

Larry Louis Cox, 48, who was serving sentences for burglary and later for killing another inmate, died last Feb. 6, two weeks after a scuffle with guards at the high-security section within the Estelle Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Galveston County medical examiner's office ruled his death a homicide caused by medical neglect after he suffered blunt force trauma.

No one was prosecuted in the case, and officials still disagree about whom to blame – guards for the injury or the prison medical staff. He was treated at a hospital for head injuries, but personnel failed to find spinal injuries before returning him to his cell and didn't heed his complaints later.

The prison system's inspector general said the guards were not responsible but blamed prison medical staff for "criminally negligent homicide."

Dallas News