'Fred was beat, he was murdered. He was taken advantage of by a system that could not employ people to protect those who they put in here,' the 19-year-old's grandmother said.
"This jail wasn't given enough money for the very basics of care that inmates should have," Randall Kallinen, the family's attorney, said. "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."
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 "exhibited a knife" and was booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. No one was injured in that incident.
ORIGINAL STORY: Teen inmate with special needs killed by cell mate in Harris County jail, family says
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