Harris County Jail conditions under scrutiny after inmate accused of murder allegedly kills cellmate
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Two years after an inmate was killed in the Harris County Jail, the victim's cellmate was charged with his murder.
According to a custodial death report filed with the Attorney General's Office, Michael Griego, 46, was found unconscious in his cellblock on Nov. 13, 2022, and was transported to the hospital with visible head trauma.
He was pronounced dead on Nov. 22, 2022. His death was ruled a homicide from complications following blunt force head trauma.
A murder charge was filed against Chad Maydwell, 33, on Tuesday in the case. Records show that he was already behind bars awaiting trial for the capital murder of his grandmother a few months prior.
At the time of his death, Griego was behind bars for the aggravated assault of a family member. Court records show he allegedly threw hot water on someone he lived with.
Both Griego and Maydwell were being housed in the mental health unit.
The Texas Rangers investigated the death, and the Chief of the Harris County District Attorney's Office Mental Health Division, Andrew Figliuzzi, said investigators were able to find a confession in his jail calls.
"The defendant himself put him there at the scene and confessed to his parents that he indeed was the person that caused these injuries," Figliuzzi said.
Maydwell said he did it because he wanted Griego off the top bunk, according to Figliuzzi.
The investigation is said to have revealed that Maydwell pulled Griego out of his bunk, threw him to the ground, and brutally assaulted him.
Griego's family said he was declared brain dead. They said that he had voiced several times that he was being assaulted, and nothing was done. They are frustrated that he was placed in a cell with someone accused of murder.
"While (Maydwell) was committing this crime, he was in jail waiting to be sent to the hospital himself for competency restoration because he had been declared incompetent to stand trial," Figliuzzi said.
He explained that was part of the delay in filing charges in the case. He said it also took time to corroborate the other inmates' eyewitness accounts.
Griego's family also said they wish there were another option for people battling mental health challenges because they do not believe jail is the best place.
"I can say that we have literally hundreds of defendants across the state of Texas waiting in county jails to be sent to the mental hospitals for treatment, and we don't have enough beds, so I think the state legislature should be looking at providing funding and staffing for these hospitals," Figliuzzi said.
Regarding charges, ABC13 discovered through a public records request that less than 1% of incidents in the jail result in charges.
The jail's internal reporting system shows that in 2023, there were a combined 11,215 assaults on staff, on inmates, fights, and consensual and non-consensual sexual encounters.
According to data obtained from the DA's office, 71 charges were filed from the beginning of 2023 to October of this year.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office said, "In many cases, the inmate already faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence if convicted of the charges that caused them to be jailed in the first place."
Regarding Griego, HCSO told ABC13 that they followed protocol following the death by reporting to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards and allowing the Texas Department of Public Safety Ranger Division to investigate.
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