Two Harris County jail employees indicted for falsifying document

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two Harris County jail staffers -- one, a former jail nurse, the other, a currently suspended psych tech -- were indicted Friday for tampering with a government record in incidents surrounding the death of an inmate.

The investigation into the two, Pius Ikuopenikan and Jane Emeharole, began in October 10, 2014 after inmate Andre Bonier died in the jail clinic, according to jail sources.

It is alleged the pair falsified a document showing they checked up on the inmate when they hadn't, sources said.

There's no implication the falsification played a part in the death of the 52-year-old inmate's death. Bonier has a long arrest record and in and out of the Harris County jail dozens of times. When not in jail he was homeless, records show.

This most recent visit to the jail was on a February 2013 trespassing charge and then assault on a jail detention officer while he was being booked.

It was not clear Friday if Bonier was in the mental health unit or general population when he died.

Records do show that three days before his death, a judge ordered that Bonier be forcibly medicated.

This all occurred while Adrian Garcia was sheriff and marks the second recent indictment of jail staffers who worked under Garcia.

The first was connected to the case of Terry Goodwin, a mentally ill inmate left for weeks in a trash-filled, feces-littered jail cell. In April, a Harris County grand jury indicted two jail sergeants, also for tampering with a government document.

This recent alleged tampering happened just 12 days after the ABC-13 aired its investigation into the Goodwin case, which shocked the community and which jail experts called it the "worst case of jail abuse in Texas in a decade."

Just days after ABC-13's report on Goodwin, Garcia announced he was "damn angry" that Goodwin was ignored in his cell and unveiled a multi-point plan aimed at improving inmate safety and living conditions.

Garcia stepped down from the sheriff's post in May to run for Houston mayor.

A call to the Garcia campaign made late Friday has not been returned.

The two staffers have not yet been booked. Neither is still on the job.

Ted Oberg Investigates will update this story.