Another Area Jail Inmate Dies

GILMER – An Upshur County Jail inmate has died from a self-inflicted injury. The Texas Rangers’ report doesn’t say when William Meadows, 27, of Longview, died. On July 19, Meadows was found unconscious in a shower. The jail staff administered first aid and he was then taken to Longview’s Christus Good Shepherd Medical Center. According to a written statement from Sheriff Larry Webb, Meadows “appeared to be a victim of self-inflicted harm.” He had been booked into the jail July 11 on charges of violation of a protective order and violation of probation.

Meadows becomes the second jail inmate to die from self-inflicted injuries. A man accused of capital murder in Tyler has died after he was found hanging in his Longview jail cell. Tony Waters, 55, of Kilgore, had been arrested in Longview for a Tyler shooting that left two persons dead and one injured. Shortly after 12:15 last Wednesday afternoon the jail staff, making a regular welfare check of the inmates, found Waters hanging in his cell. He had used his clothes to fashion a makeshift rope. The jail staff started CPR. Waters died Saturday at a Longview hospital. His body was sent for autopsy. The Texas Rangers are investigating the incident.