Man dies while in custody at Texas City jail

A 49-year old man died while in custody of the Texas City Police Department after walking into police headquarters asking for help. A 49-year old man died while in custody of the Texas City Police Department after walking into police headquarters asking for help. Photo: Texas City Police Department Photo: Texas City Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Man dies while in custody at Texas City jail 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 49-year old man died while in custody of the Texas City Police Department early Wednesday after walking in to police headquarters asking for help.

Texas City police officials reported that Christopher McHenry walked into the front office of the Texas City Police Department at 1:115 a.m. Wednesday to report that someone had been following him. During the course of the interview, an officer discovered that McHenry had an outstanding warrant for felony possession of a controlled substance and placed McHenry under arrest.

McHenry was escorted to the Texas City Police Department Holding Facility and placed in a "detox cell" prior to booking at 1:24 a.m.. During a welfare check conducted by a Texas City Detention Officer at 3:37 a.m., McHenry was found unresponsive. Texas City Fire Department paramedics were called to the scene but were unable to revive McHenry. He was declared dead at 3:44 a.m.

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Per Texas City Police Department procedures, the Texas Rangers were called and a Ranger responded to investigate the in-custody death. The Galveston County District Attorney's Office was contacted by the Texas City Police Department and notified of the in-custody death.

A custodial death report filed by the police department with the state attorney general's office indicated that McHenry exhibited mental health problems when he checked into police headquarters but did not make any suicidal statements.

McHenry was transported to the Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office where an independent investigation to determine his cause of death will be conducted.

This is the second in-custody death in Galveston County this year. Ronald Cotton, 30, died in custody at Galveston County Jail after being taken to the hospital for "dehydration." Cotton's death is still being investigated by the Texas Rangers.

Nick Powell covers Galveston County for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.com

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