Marinda Griggs was found hanging from an air vent in her prison cell in Gatesville, Texas on October 9, 2015 after reporting Sgt. James Casey Irby for assault. Previously, she had tried to get her medicine for her mental health diagnoses, but was punished severely for doing so.

On September 29, 2015 a letter detailing the abuse and naming her main abuser Sgt. James Casey Irby was smuggled out of the prison, allowing her family to have evidence that they would later use for a suit in regards to her unnecessary death.

This case is pivotal because many prison deaths such as Marinda Griggs have taken place where an inmate has alleged abuse and has been later found dead under questionable circumstances. State Prisons, Local Jails and those who work in them are often unregulated, out of compliance with standards and regulations, and discipline of abusive staff such as Texas prison guard James Casey Irby is rare. Many prison guards and prisons hide behind the defense of "immunity", but Marinda Griggs suit challenges that.

Currently the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Texas prison guard Sgt. James Casey Irby are being sued by the family of Marinda Griggs. This case will revamp the way we treat those with mental health needs inside and outside the prisons. We should seek to rehabilitate not incarcerate those who have mental health needs. Please contact the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities and Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Office imploring them to investigate Marinda Griggs' case and the mental health treatment of those in State Prisons and Local Jails. Griggs would have been better served in a residential treatment facility. All her life she had been crying out for help and it should not have taken her death for someone to take notice. Justice for Marinda!

https://www.houstonpress.com/news/marinda-griggs-hanged-herself-in-gatesville-prison-after-being-beaten-by-prison-guards-10564906