Disabled teen's horrific murder in Harris Co. jail triggers serious charges against killer
HOUSTON - A murder charge has been lodged against the man who fatally stabbed and beat 19-year-old Fred Harris inside the Harris County Jail.
BACKGROUND: Family of fatally injured special needs inmate demand jail funding, reform
According to court documents, prosecutors contend 25-year-old Michael Paul Ownby attacked Harris with a sharpened spoon while also slamming his head repeatedly on the concrete floor.
Harris was a first-time offender with special needs and his family is furious he was not placed in protective custody pending a mental competency hearing.
Mom outraged after special needs son beaten, stabbed in the Harris Co. jail
A mother is demanding justice for her 19-year-old special needs son, who was beaten and stabbed in the Harris County Jail, and according to his family, it resulted in his death. FOX 26’s Greg Groogan tells us who the family is holding responsible.
"They never should have been together. We have received information that this wasn't all of a sudden. Fred Harris had been receiving harassment prior to this and it should have been obvious to the jailers present that Fred Harris should not be there, " said Randall Kallinen, attorney for Harris' family.
RELATED: 19-year-old jail beating victim dead; family donates his organs
Recently, Harris' family accused county leaders of intentionally understaffing the nation's third-largest jail creating and creating the unsafe conditions which allowed the murder to occur.
Tuesday Harris County Commissioners voted to hire 100 additional detention officers at the request of Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
MORE: 'They could have avoided this,' Deputies seek federal takeover of Harris County Jail