5,900 Texans have died in custody since 2016, new data shows

4WardEverUK • 29 July 2023

source: CBS News

published: 17 July 2023

Image Credit: Sourced by 4WardEverUK


It has been nearly seven years since Tony Timpa died in the custody of Dallas police, and on Monday, a civil case against four officers was delayed.


Timpa was one of 627 people to die in state custody in 2016. Since 2016, there have been more than 5,900 in-custody deaths in the State of Texas.


That number includes any inmate death at a jail or prison, as well as when a person is being arrested. 


An analysis by the nonprofit Texas Justice Initiative shows that the majority of these deaths were from natural causes or illness. Seven-hundred-and-sixty-nine of them were homicides and 290 were accidental.

Most happened at medical facilities, but 1,020 happened inside a jail or prison, and 731 happened at the scene of a crime or an arrest.

Zooming into North Texas, there have been 373 in-custody deaths since 2016 in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis and Tarrant counties. Of these, 34% were classified as homicides.


Learn more about in-custody deaths in Texas here.


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Data from Texas Justice Initiative

(publish date unspecified)


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