Jailed Texas Teen Gets Promise of Treatment Following Beast Story
A 15-year-old mentally ill girl locked up and subjected to “degrading” treatment in a Texas juvenile detention facility since 2019 has a shot at being moved to a hospital after The Daily Beast reported on her plight.
“Following the publishing of the article and after additional requests by the youth, her family, and advocates, the youth was approved for admission to a state hospital and placed on a waitlist,” her lawyer Brittany Norman said.
“However, due to limited bed availability throughout the state, it will likely take several months for her to be admitted and begin treatment.”
The teen, whom we identified only as D because she is a minor, has endured a nightmarish stay in a detention system that is so troubled it’s under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Medical files show D—who has been in and out of the system since age 10 and is serving five years for kicking a guard—has a slew of mental health issues, including major depression and bipolar spectrum illness.
But the conditions that she was held under only made her problems worse.
As The Daily Beast previously reported, she was made to walk outside of her living area in only a suicide alert gown and left to urinate on the floor of her cell after being denied use of the restroom.
Conditions for D and other children have continued to deteriorate: recent reporting by The Texas Tribune showed that staffing and safety issues at the centers intensified this summer.
While D confronts a possible transfer to adult prison, “nobody’s speaking to the stuff they did to her,” her mother Tiffanie Ware told The Daily Beast last week.
“All I can do is pray and wish and hope that one day she gets to come home, at least before she leaves this earth,” she said. “Hopefully.”
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