Harris County jail death has family seeking answers

The family of an elderly Houston man who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and died in the Harris County Sheriff's Office's custody is demanding answers after he sustained serious head injuries during what they said was an altercation with a deputy at the Harris County Jail.

Norman Ford Hicks Sr., 72, of the 10400 block of Royal Oaks, died at 11 p.m. Jan. 22 at Ben Taub General Hospital after his children made the decision to discontinue life support. His official cause of death has not yet been released by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, where pathologists performed an autopsy on his body.

Hicks, who was on probation, had been in custody at the Harris County Jail at 1200 Baker St. since Jan. 7 after he was arrested in Oklahoma City for unknown reasons and transferred back to Harris County, said his daughter, Marie Hicks-Fields of Houston.

The altercation happened Jan. 16 at the jail, but his daughter said the sheriff's office did not notify her of the incident. On Monday she said she did not learn her father was at Ben Taub's intensive care unit until a hospital social worker called her to confirm her father's date of birth and address.

Hicks' family said on Monday that Sgt. Felipe Rivera of the Harris County Sheriff's Office Homicide Division told them Hicks had been involved in an altercation with a staff member at the jail, although the sheriff's office refused to confirm that on Monday. Doctors said Hicks suffered multiple facial fractures and severe brain trauma, said his daughter, Evangeline Hicks Campbell of Katy.

Family members who saw Hicks at the hospital before his death said they saw bruises on his head. He never regained consciousness and died five days after arriving at the hospital, they said.

"As far as we know, he was brought in already dead, not breathing — but Ben Taub being a Level I trauma center, they revived him," said Hicks Campbell. "So we had the task of disconnecting life support because he had been without oxygen for at least 30 minutes before he got help. So we just want justice for our dad and for everybody else here who has the same condition. He was beaten senselessly, and we just want something done."

Two days after the altercation, while Hicks was hospitalized and on life support, he was charged with felony offense of harassment by a person in a correctional facility after the sheriff's office filed a complaint against him with the district attorney's office. Court papers accuse Hicks of trying to harass, alarm and assault a deputy by causing the deputy to come into contact with feces and urine.

Court papers allege the offense happened on Jan. 7, the day Hicks was booked into the county jail. It was not immediately clear why the charge was filed after he was hospitalized and on life support.

Community activist Quanell X said he and the family are demanding the name of the sheriff's office employee involved in the altercation with Hicks and want to see a videotape that they have heard shows the altercation at the jail that led to the inmate's head injuries.

Quanell X also said sources inside the jail tell him a deputy escorted Hicks to an attorney's booth, where the altercation happened, even though no attorney was present to visit with Hicks. Sources inside the jail also told Quanell X that Hicks remained in the attorney's booth for 30 minutes without medical attention while the deputy went to the jail's medical division looking for peroxide to clean blood off his uniform shirt.

Sheriff's office officials refused to say if one of their staff members had been involved in the altercation with Hicks and refused to say if that person remains on duty or if any disciplinary action has been taken. An investigation is continuing and Sheriff Adrian Garcia is expecting to meet with Hicks' family today.

Hicks was in good physical health when he arrived at the jail on Jan. 7, Quanell X said. "He was a man diagnosed with mental health issues, paranoid schizophrenic as well as bipolar disorder," he said. "The family deserves answers and they need answers."

Hicks was a small-statured man at 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighing around 150 pounds, Harris County District Clerk's records show. He was not married, but had four children, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

"Any loss of life is a tragedy," said sheriff's office spokeswoman Christina Garza. "Sheriff Garcia takes this very, very seriously. Without compromising the current investigation that is under way into this incident, there's very little information I can disclose at this time."

Sheriff's Office Capt. Joel Inocencio, who supervises the county jail at 1200 Baker St., said jail officials for security reasons normally do not notify family members when an inmate is transferred to a hospital.

If there are special circumstances, such as the inmate being in critical condition or if death is imminent, hospital staff normally notifies the family - the sheriff's office usually does not undertake this duty, Garza said.

Court records show Hicks also was booked into the county jail last year for violating a protective order, for which he was convicted and sentenced to 50 days in jail. He also was booked into the county jail in 2008 for felony aggravated assault of a family member, for which he was granted deferred adjudication of guilt and placed on five years' probation, records show.

In 2005, Hicks was charged with injury to a disabled person by recklessly causing bodily injury and was ultimately found incompetent to stand trial, district clerk's records show.

peggy.ohare@chron.com