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Inmate Dies While In Custody

By Alana Gomez Dong

POSTED: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
UPDATED: 6:36 pm CDT March 24, 2009

A Houston family wants answers after their loved one died while in custody, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.

Freddie Lee Bell, 31, was transferred from the Harris County Jail to the Lynchner State Jail on March 13.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said that when Bell arrived to Lynchner State Jail, he was vomiting and immediately taken to the jail's infirmary. Five days later, he reported stomach pains and was taken to Northeast Hospital in Humble where he died later that evening.

The hospital told TDCJ that Bell's preliminary cause of death was gastrointestinal bleeding.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office said the cause of his death is "pending further study" and may not be determined for several weeks.

Bell's family obtained photos of him after his autopsy and said there is significant injury to his head and face, including bruising, boot marks and bite marks.

"I want to know who did this to my son," said Betty Bell, Freddie Bell's mother. "They beat him to death like a dog."

Both the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Harris County Sheriff's Office said Bell was not mistreated while in the care of their facilities.

An official statement from the Harris County Sheriff's Office reads as follows:

"In other words, there is no indication anything out of the ordinary occurred during his incarceration in our facility. There were no medical records of any complaints made by Mr. Bell regarding any health concerns he may have had, and there were no medical concerns noted at any time by our medical staff during his routine medical assessment … lastly, interviews with the personnel assigned to transport Mr. Bell from the Harris County Jail to the Lynchner State Jail on March 13 advised it was an entirely ordinary transfer of custody during which Mr. Bell presented no verbal or physically observable health concerns, or any disciplinary problems whatsoever."

Bell was serving an eight-month sentence for possession of drugs.

According to the Harris County Sheriff's Office, he was an "exemplary" inmate with no disciplinary problems.

The Harris County District Attorney's Police Integrity Division and the Office of the Inspector General are investigating Bell's death.
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