$1.25 million settlement for family of teen with special needs killed in Harris Co. jail: Attorney

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- The family of Fred Harris, a 19-year-old man with an intellectual disability killed in the Harris County jail, has reached a settlement with the county for $1.25 million.

Randall Kallinen, the family's attorney, confirmed to ABC13 that Harris County has agreed to pay the amount to settle the federal lawsuit about the brutal 2021 beating of the teen.

Harris was murdered by his cellmate, Michael Ownby, a repeat violent offender more than twice his size. Ownby had attacked another inmate that same day and a guard days prior. Ownby pleaded guilty to killing Harris in 2023 and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The federal lawsuit alleged that a staffing shortage at the Harris County jail led to Harris' murder, adding that the county not only did nothing to accommodate him, but placed him in a jail cell with a particularly violent inmate more than twice his size.

RELATED: Lawsuit claims staffing shortage at Harris County jail led to 19-year-old's murder

"This jail wasn't given enough money for the very basics of care that inmates should have," Kallinen previously told ABC13. "What we found out is, due to understaffing and for convenience, they put Fred, who was 98 pounds and with special needs, with a 240-pound individual."

Kallinen, in his filings, alleged that jail staff put Ownby and Harris in the same holding cell without appropriate oversight, while adding that Harris "did not instigate any fight" before Ownby beat him to death.

Kallinen told ABC13 that $1 million will go to Dallas Garcia, Harris' mother, and $50,000 will go to Harris' estate.

In a previous interview with ABC13, Garcia said she was blindsided by her son's murder and also pushed to make videos of the incident public.

"If they had done their jobs, Ownby wouldn't have had the opportunity to do what he did...to murder my son," she said.

Harris graduated from Stafford High School without any disciplinary issues and had never been convicted of a crime, according to the lawsuit. He had also never been arrested before October 2021, when he allegedly "exhibited a knife" and was booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. No one was injured in that incident.

"Based upon the facts," the lawsuit said, "it is unlikely Fred would ever have been convicted."

The lawsuit cited statements by county officials and politicians, a federal lawsuit filed by jail employees, and a Texas Workforce Commission report as evidence that the jail was severely understaffed at the time of Harris' death.

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