Inmate's family sues Texas prisons for 2015 heat death Federal lawsuit says guards confiscated the asthmatic man's inhaler

﻿The lawsuit filed by prisoners at the Pack Unit will not directly impact inmates at other state prisons. ﻿ ﻿The lawsuit filed by prisoners at the Pack Unit will not directly impact inmates at other state prisons. ﻿ Photo: BOB OWEN, STAFF Photo: BOB OWEN, STAFF Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Inmate's family sues Texas prisons for 2015 heat death 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The family of a 36-year-old man who died in prison is suing the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, saying he died because of "willful and wanton indifference to undeniable dangers" of summer heat inside the facility.

The Dallas-based parents and minor son of Quintero Devale Jones filed the federal wrongful death suit in Houston this week, noting the string of heat-related prison deaths in Texas that have garnered national attention.

The lawsuit says that guards at the McConnell Unit in Beeville, where Jones was assigned, had already dealt with a number of inmate deaths caused by heat stroke - one in 2004 and two in 2011.

Yet the guards ignored Jones' call for help and those of other inmates, family members said in court documents.

Jones died during a heat wave in July 2015 as the result of an asthma attack, according to court records. Guards had previously confiscated his inhaler during a "shakedown" in the morning and he died after an asthma attack that same afternoon, the suit says.

"It's unknown why they would not return to a prisoner an emergency breather that said 'keep on person' and they wouldn't give it back," said the family's lawyer John Schulman.

Schulman said, beyond losing their son, Alice and Roy Jones, are deeply, deeply distressed by what happened at McConnell the day he died and how prison officials handled his asthma attack.

"I believe they clearly have a duty -- not provide him a comfortable and cushy experience, but certainly to protect his life," Schulman said.

Jason Clark, the spokesman for TDCJ, declined to comment on the Jones family's wrongful death complaint.

Jones' death is not included among the 23 inmates that TDCJ says have died of heat stroke since 1998 - state officials have maintained that the last heat-related death occurred in 2012.

A group of inmates at the Pack Unit sought an injunction in the wake of those heat deaths and U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison in Houston last month granted one. Ellison ordered state officials to provide a cooler living environment for heat-sensitive inmates, noting that heat deaths are commonly under reported. Prison officials are expected to unveil their plan on Thursday to cool the living units for the Navasota facility about 70 miles northwest of Houston.

According to court documents, Jones had asthma and hypertension and took calcium channel blockers, all of which put him at high risk during hot weather. He had been seen for asthma attacks on June 5, 2015 and on July 28, 2015, and his medical records indicated he should keep his inhaler on his person at all times and use it multiple times per day.

The lawsuit says the heat index in Beeville north of Corpus Christi had reached 110 degrees by 3:15 p.m. on July 31, 2015, when Jones began having an asthma attack. He was laying on the floor of his cell to avoid "the baking hot cinderblock walls" and his cellmates tried for 20 minutes to get guards to respond, according to court documents. By the time medical personnel began administering chest compressions, they could not record an independent heartbeat. His death was officially recorded shortly thereafter.

His family is suing for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.