Barry Telford Unit

The Barry B. Telford Unit (TO) a.k.a. Telford Unit (opened July 1995) is a Texas state prison located in unincorporated Bowie County, Texas. The facility, along Texas State Highway 98, is 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Interstate 30. It has a "New Boston, Texas" mailing address,[1] and is in proximity to Texarkana.[2] The Telford Unit is operated by Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correctional Institutions Division, administered within Region II.[1]

Barry B. Telford Unit
Barry Telford Unit is located in Texas
Barry Telford Unit
Location in Texas
Location3899 State Hwy 98
New Boston, Texas 75570
Coordinates33.4214167°N 094.4764833°W / 33.4214167; -094.4764833
StatusOperational
Security classG1-G5, Administrative segregation, safekeeping
Capacity2,872
OpenedJuly 1995
Managed byTDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
WardenBalden Polk
CountyBowie County
CountryUS
Websitewww.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory/to.html

History

On July 11, 1997, William Speer (then TDCJ#668485), killed a 47-year old prisoner in his cell. Speer was sentenced to death and became TDCJ#999398. He is now in the Polunsky Unit.[3] His co-defendant Anibal Canales was also sentenced to death.[4]

On April 1, 1999, a prisoner named Lee Andrew Taylor,[5] nicknamed "Tiny",[6] fatally stabbed prisoner, Donta Green,[2] in a dayroom. Taylor was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, a prison gang ("security threat group" in TDCJ parlance) and the death was a result of racial tension. Taylor (TDCJ #765153 as a non-death row inmate) was serving a life sentence for aggravated robbery;[5] The prisoner stated that the stabbing was self-defense.[2] However Taylor was sentenced to death,[5] and moved to the Polunsky Unit.[6] He (TDCJ #999344 as a death row inmate) was executed at the Huntsville Unit on June 16, 2011.[7]

On July 15, 2015, Officer Timothy Davison was beaten to death by an inmate he was escorting back to his cell. The inmate managed to free his hand from his handcuffs and grabbed the officer's slot pry tool and beat him in the head with it. The accused inmate, Billy Joel Tracy, 38, who has a history of violent behavior, was sentenced to death in November 2017 for the crime.[8]

Notable inmates

References
  1. "Telford TO", Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Accessed 2014-01-08
  2. "Texas inmate who killed fellow prisoner set to die" (Archive). Associated Press at the Amarillo Globe-News. June 16, 2011. Retrieved on January 20, 2016.
  3. "Speer, William." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 26, 2016.
  4. "Canales, Anibal." Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
  5. "Taylor, Lee Andrew." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 20, 2016.
  6. Hannaford, Alex. "Inmates Aren’t the Only Victims of the Prison-Industrial Complex" (Archive). The Nation. September 16, 2014. Retrieved on January 20, 2016.
  7. "Last Statement Lee Taylor, TDCJ #999344." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 20, 2016.
  8. "Jury sentences Telford inmate to death for killing correctional officer". KTBS-TV.
  9. "TIEDE,BERNHARDT II." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 9, 2016.
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