ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) - According to the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, an inmate died at a Houston-area hospital after suffering what appeared to be a stroke while in custody at the county jail.
Sheriff Tom Selman said around 3 a.m. on April 29, officers found Edward Doyle Cowart, 52, out of his bunk and laying on the floor of his cell. Officers entered the cell to check on Cowart and he appeared incoherent, could not give verbal responses and showed signs of weakness or paralysis consistent with a stroke or brain bleed, according to the sheriff’s office.
Selman said jail medical staff called EMS to take Cowart to a hospital. The sheriff’s office said they were notified on May 3 that Cowart had died.
Cowart was charged with assault family violence, driving while license invalid, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was being held under a $100,000 bond at the time he suffered the medical event.
According to the sheriff’s office, an autopsy by the Montgomery County Medical Examiner’s Office to determine cause of death is currently pending. The Texas Rangers and Texas Commission on Jail Standards were notified immediately of what would be classified as an in-custody death as required by law.