The Texas Attorney General’s Office is investigating the death of an inmate over the weekend at a state prison near Amarillo.
Samuell Jackson, 43, died Saturday, March 14, at Northwest Texas Hospital, where he was taken after he was found lying on the floor of his cell Thursday at the William P. Clements Unit, a maximum security prison near Amarillo, according to a custodial death report provided by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
The report, provided to the AG’s office by TDCJ officials, states that Jackson was reportedly found lying on the floor in a High Security C-Pod cell.
TDCJ correctional staff located him and performed life-saving measures. Jackson was then taken to Northwest Texas Hospital for further care. According to the report, Jackson was determined to be brain dead and life support was removed. He was declared dead at 3:49 p.m. Saturday.
Jackson was reportedly found unresponsive in his cell on Thursday March 12, according to Amanda Hernandez, director of communications for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, who was responding to questions via email from the Globe-News. He was initially listed in critical condition when he was taken to the hospital and later died.
Hernandez wrote that Jackson’s cause of death is pending autopsy, but preliminary findings indicate potential overdose. Other information about the circumstances were not immediately clear as the autopsy and investigation are ongoing.
Hernandez confirmed no TDCJ staff or other inmates were harmed or disciplined due to the incident.
Why was Samuell Jackson in Amarillo’s TDCJ Clements Unit?
Jackson was serving a 30-year sentence for aggravated robbery out of Dallas County on Sept. 29, 2001, according to state prison records. He previously had been sentenced to two years in prison for a May 11, 2000, robbery in Dallas.
He was eligible for parole in 2016, but was later convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison on a felony charge of assault of a public servant stemming from an April 14, 2017, incident in Bowie County.
The report shows he was initially booked into state custody on October 10, 2001, and was first booked into the Clements Unit in 2003.
State prison records show Jackson’s maximum sentence date was Oct. 10, 2041.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas AG’s office investigates inmate’s death at Amarillo state prison
Reporting by Adam D. Young, Amarillo Globe-News / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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