(KYTX/ TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - A man is in critical but stable condition after he was found hanging from a towel at the Smith County Jail.
According to Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith, a 32-year-old inmate was in a separation cell when jailers found him during an observation check about 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Smith said the last check made by jailers to the man’s cell had taken place 26 minutes earlier.
The inmate was being held in a separation cell and has been incarcerated since October 2015, according to Smith.
Smith said the man was in critical but stable condition on Wednesday and that his vitals were improving since he was in the hospital.
Six inmates have died while in Smith County custody since 2013, including a 24-year-old man who was found hanging in his cell May 16, 2015. That death resulted in a $1.25 million settlement with the man’s family. In that instance, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards issued the jail a notice of noncompliance related to the death after determining the jailers failed to check on the inmate every 30 minutes as was required in his case.
