Travis County has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died by suicide in the county jail in early 2022. Dallas attorney Dean Malone filed suit on behalf of the man’s family. According to a news release announcing the settlement, Jared “J.J.” Bell was arrested at an Austin-area hospital where his brother had taken him because he “was experiencing psychosis and self-harm tendencies.” He was taken to jail on an outstanding warrant and put on suicide watch. However, he was not under full supervision and took his own life, according to the law firm.
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor. More by Jo Clifton