In a county jail in central Texas, an inmate on suicide watch begins strangling himself with a phone cord.
Derrek Monroe, who died the next day in a hospital, was among the first of 48 jail suicides since the 2017 launch of a sweeping
Texas law aimed at reducing such deaths through better screening and monitoring.
“Jails are understaffed and often very understaffed,” said Diana Claitor, executive director of the Texas Jail Project, which advocates for inmates and their families.