BRAZOS CO. INMATE DIED OF DEHYDRATION

  

Autopsy results indicate a 44-year old Brazos County Jail inmate died back in August from organ failure due to dehydration.

Melvin Earl Jones died while in custody at the Brazos County Detention Center.

Jones was arrested Aug. 2 on charges he assaulted a staff member at St. Joseph Hospital. According to the Brazos County Sheriff's Office, for two weeks Jones made threats of harming himself while he was being held in a special housing cell.

Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk said Jones refused to eat or drink, though staff urged him to do so.

On Aug. 18, Jones said he did not feel well and became unconscious. He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital and died later that day.

Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk says Jones’ death was the third in the jail in 2015.

In March, a man died after issues with pulmonary disease and another died of an overdose in May. Kirk said the number of deaths in the jail in 2015 is unusual.