An inmate died at the Ector County Detention Center after jail staff subdued him with a stun gun, restrained his arms and legs, and locked him in a padded cell, according to an in-custody death report filed with the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
The report says Wallace Howell, a 38-year-old Black man, started fighting with another inmate when he was placed in a holding cell on June 15. When jail staff intervened, Howell “began to charge staff members,” according to the report filed by the Ector County Sheriff’s Office.
Jail staff shocked Howell several times with a Taser then placed him in a “wrap,” which restrains a detainee’s arms and legs, and moved him to a padded cell, where he was found unresponsive at 6:15 a.m., according to the Midland Reporter-Telegram. He was pronounced dead at 7:13 a.m.
The report did not list a cause of death for Howell. The autopsy results have not yet been released to the Ector County Sheriff’s Office.
Howell is the second inmate to die at the Ector County Detention Center this year.
