19-year-old jail beating victim dead; family donates his organs
HOUSTON - For Fred Harris, the end of life has come.
Attorney Randy Kallinen tells FOX 26 the process of harvesting the 19-year-old's organs was completed and his family has confirmed his final passing.
BACKGROUND: Family of fatally injured special needs inmate demand jail funding, reform
Intellectually challenged with an IQ of 62 Harris was stabbed and beaten "brain dead" Monday inside the Harris County Jail by fellow inmate Michael Paul Ownby - a man two and half times his size.
Sources tell FOX 26 prosecutors are preparing a murder charge.
SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 HOUSTON EMAIL ALERTS
21 days prior to the vicious attack Fred Harris was arrested for the first time in his young life near a smoke shop in Montrose after allegedly threatening an acquaintance with a knife.
He was later charged with aggravated assault, despite never coming within 10 feet of the alleged victim.
Mom outraged after special needs son beaten, stabbed in the Harris Co. jail
A mother is demanding justice for her 19-year-old special needs son, who was beaten and stabbed in the Harris County Jail, and according to his family, it resulted in his death. FOX 26’s Greg Groogan tells us who the family is holding responsible.
Contacted Thursday near a shelter for homeless young people, that acquaintance told Fox 26 he declined to press charges, but Houston Police took Harris into custody anyway.
Court records indicate that on October 12th bond was set at $20,000 with Fred Harris agreeing to the conditions of release a day later.
FOR THE LATEST NEWS UPDATES, DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 NEWS APP
But at no time during the 18 days prior to Ownby's assault, did anyone step forward with the $2,000 necessary to secure bail for the disabled teenager.
Kallinen says fearing for her son's future safety, Fred's Mom was awaiting the outcome of a court-ordered mental competency examination with the hope of gaining guardianship over her adult son.
Under increasing criticism for deteriorating conditions inside the nation's third-largest jail Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez Thursday issued the following statement on Twitter:
The murder and the jail conditions which may have enabled it to happen have triggered an investigation by the Texas Rangers.