Nearly A Dozen Houston Jailors Fired

Houston (AP) – 11 employees with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office have been fired, and six others have been suspended following the February death of a county jail inmate who had been hit multiple times in the head by detention officers. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Friday medical examiners had ruled Jaquaree Simmons’s death a homicide caused by injuries to his head. A three month internal affairs investigation concluded Simmons had two fights with detention officers on Feb. 16. He was evaluated at a jail clinic, then taken back to his cell where he was found unresponsive on Feb. 17. The detention officers who were fired or suspended were found to have violated various policies, including using excessive force.