WALLER CO. MURDER SUSPECT HANGS HIMSELF IN JAIL

  

The man suspected of a workplace murder and attack earlier this month in Waller County has died after hanging himself in the county jail.

34-year-old Evan Lyndell Parker died Sunday at a Houston hospital, after being rushed to the hospital for an apparent suicide attempt on January 25^th.  The Waller County District Attorney’s Office confirmed the death of Parker Wednesday on Facebook.

Per request of the Waller County Sheriff’s Office, the F.B.I. and Texas Rangers were asked to take over the investigation surrounding the suicide attempt. Information on Parker’s death was not immediately made available, due to the Texas Rangers office’s request that press releases come from its media office.  Family members also had to be notified.

Parker was arrested earlier this month on murder and aggravated assault warrants, after being accused of killing 64-year-old Harry Parnell and severely injuring 36-year-old Jose Rangel. Each worked at Orizon Industries, a steel fabrication plant in Brookshire.  Investigators have not released a motive for the knife attack, but it was believed to be work-related.

It is not clear at this time what led to Parker’s suicide attempt. The Waller County District Attorney’s Office maintains there is no information at this time to show jail staff did not follow guidelines and procedures.

Parker’s death comes over three years after the death of Sandra Bland, who was found dead in her cell at the same jail in July of 2015.

In 2016, Bland’s family settled a wrongful death lawsuit for $1.9 million with Waller County Commissioners, as well as the state trooper, Brian Encinia, who arrested her during a traffic stop near Prairie View A&M University. Encinia was fired from the state Department of Public Safety, resulting from the incident, and cannot get another job in law enforcement.