HOUSTON – Family members of 48-year-old Adael Gonzalez Garcia are seeking answers after they said officers severely injured him while in Harris County Jail.
Civil rights lawyer Randall Kallinen, during a news conference held Thursday, said the family of Gonzalez Garcia believes that jail guards “used force” on him, which led to severe injuries.
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Kallinen claims the Harris County Jail “may be understaffed in the video evidence department,” after he was unable to view the evidence.
“I’ve requested the video. They tell me that there’s video cameras inside the jail, but we need those videos to see what actually happened,” Kallinen said. “The family wants answers. The community wants answers. We don’t want to release criminals, we just want that evidence.”
What happened?
According to HCSO, Gonzalez Garcia was booked into Harris County Jail on Nov. 23 after he was arrested on an outstanding DWI warrant issued out of Walker County.
Later, on Nov. 24 at 8:50 p.m., Gonzalez Garcia reportedly fell from a top bunk bed in his cell block and suffered an injury to his facial area. HCSO said he was taken to the jail clinic where he was treated.
As he was released from the clinic on Nov. 25, Harris County jail staff told HCSO that a struggle ensued between him and detention officers while being transferred to a different cell block.
At some point during that struggle, Gonzalez Garcia fell on his head on the ground. He was taken to Ben Taub Hospital where he remains in a coma.
In a statement, HCSO said Walker County released the warrant for Garcia’s arrest, meaning he’s no longer in custody.
HCSO says the incident remains under investigation by the Internal Affairs Division, which is standard procedure for all use-of-force incidents.