29-year-old Harris County Jail inmate dies at prison in Louisiana, HCSO says

OLLA, Louisiana (KTRK) -- Another inmate has died after suffering a medical emergency in Louisiana on Wednesday, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

HCSO said the inmate, 29-year-old Jaleen Anderson, was pronounced dead at about 8:59 p.m. on Wednesday in the Hardtner Medical Center Emergency Room.

Anderson was booked into the Harris County Jail on March 3 on a methamphetamine possession. On March 22, he was a transferred to the privately-run LaSalle Correctional Center in Louisiana as part of an outsourcing agreement with Harris County.

"Supposedly, he had two seizures, and he told them that he was having another one, and right before the third one that it was gonna happen he had a heart attack," Anderson's father, Harold, told Eyewitness News.

According to jail officials, Anderson went to the clinic with complaints of dizziness and vomiting. He also didn't appear to have any physical injuries.

"He's had seizures before, but that should have been in his medical records so they would have known how to take proper care of my nephew," Anderson's aunt, Natasha, said.

Harris County saw a record 27 inmate deaths in 2022. There were at least 19 in 2023.

"What's going on? What happened? Don't give me minor details. I need to know specifically what went on when he went down there to Louisiana," Natasha said.

The LaSalle Parish Coroner's Office will perform an autopsy to determine Anderson's cause of death. The Harris County Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation to make sure all laws and procedures were followed.

"Anyone having medical issues like that, it should be attacked right then, promptly, like the first time it happens. Not the second and third," Harold Anderson said.

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