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Two Llano County jailers charged in connection with prisoner’s 2011 custodial death

LLANO — A Llano County grand jury indicted two jailers July 10 in the 2011 death of a 45-year-old inmate who killed himself while in custody, according to officials.

Llano County jailer Scottie Scoggins is charged in an indictment with first-degree injury to a disabled individual by omission, court records show.

Jailer Donny Stewart is indicted on the same charge, but as a second-degree felony.

Both corrections officers turned themselves in to authorities July 11. They were released on personal recognizance bonds approved by state District Judge Dan Mills after he conferred with the state Attorney General’s Office, which handled the grand jury investigation.

On Aug. 6, 2011, jail officials found Shawn Michael Appell’s body in a cell around 5:35 p.m. He had been in custody since April 22, 2011, after being arrested by the Llano Police Department on a charge of criminal mischief, officials said.

An autopsy indicated Appell died after continually banging his head against a wall.

According to a Travis County Medical Examiner’s report, the death was ruled a suicide by blunt force head injury.

An indictment alleges that Scoggins “knowingly or recklessly, by omission” failed to take the proper steps to keep Appell from injuring himself and failed to provide the proper medical care when the prisoner became injured.

The indictment against Stewart drops the word “knowingly”  and keeps “recklessly, by omission,” but otherwise retains the same basic language.

If convicted on the first-degree felony charge, Scoggins could face up to 99 years in prison. Stewart faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the second-degree charge.

A custodial death report filed with the Attorney General’s Office provides one account of what occurred prior to Appell’s demise.

The summary states at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 5, 2011, jail officials transported Appell to the Scott & White Hospital-Llano after correction officers “discovered that while inmate Appell was being housed in separation cell 190 he was banging his head against the wall in the shower area and bleeding from his head.”

According to the report, Appell told hospital officials that God had beaten him because of demons in his head. A state mental health official arrived at the emergency room and tried to find a bed in a mental facility for the man, according to the report.

But one couldn’t be found at that time, so Appell was transported back to the jail at 2:50 a.m. Aug. 6, the report stated.

He was placed in a padded cell under a five-minute watch, but he continued to strike his head against the window, according to the document. Jail officials continued to work with mental health officials to find Appell a spot in a state  facility, the report states.

About 3 p.m. Aug. 6, officials noted Appell was on the cell floor sleeping, according to the document. But upon a check of the cell at 4:30 p.m., officials found him standing up facing the wall, the report said.

The document reports that at 5 p.m. Appell was lying on the floor and the five-minute watches continued. At 5:30 p.m. “inmate Appell appeared not to be breathing. EMS was called…Subject was deceased and investigation was turned over to (a) Texas Ranger,” according to the report.

Appell had once been accused of stalking District Attorney Sam Oatman. Due to that connection, the District Attorney’s Office turned the investigation into Appell’s death over to state prosecutors.

The 2008 stalking charges were dismissed based on a competency evaluation for Appell. A report completed by psychologist Matthew Ferrara, who examined Appell, stated the defendant was not capable of standing trial on the stalking charges because he had a “persuasive delusion.”

daniel@thepicayune.com