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Location | 1100 FM 655 Rosharon, Texas 77583 |
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Coordinates | 29°17′11″N 95°32′47″W / 29.2863889°N 095.5463889°W |
Status | Operational |
Security class | G1-G3, G5, Administrative Segregation, Outside Trusty |
Capacity | Unit: 1,570 Trusty Camp: 321 |
Opened | July 1908 |
Former name | Ramsey I Unit |
Managed by | TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division |
Warden | Kristi Pittman |
County | Brazoria County |
Country | USA |
Website | www |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/RamseyUnitsAerial.png/220px-RamseyUnitsAerial.png)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/RamseyUnitsBrazTX.png/220px-RamseyUnitsBrazTX.png)
The W. F. Ramsey Unit (previously Ramsey I Unit) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison farm located in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas,[1] with a Rosharon postal address; it is not inside the Rosharon census-designated place.[2] The prison is located on Farm to Market Road 655, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Farm to Market Road 521,[3] and south of Houston.[4] The 16,369-acre (6,624 ha) unit is co-located with the Stringfellow Unit and the Terrell Unit.[3]
History
[edit]The unit opened in July 1908.[3] The Ramsey Prison Farm consisted of five former plantations.[5] In 1935, Ramsey housed African American prisoners.[6] In 1963, before racial desegregation took place, the Ramsey I Unit housed white prisoners.[7]
In 2011, the Central Unit closed. The former truck distribution center at Central moved to Ramsey.[8]
Operations
[edit]The University of Houston–Clear Lake offers bachelor's and master's degree programs at Ramsey. Prisoners may pay the State of Texas after their release.[9]
The Texas Legislature designated portions of Angleton ISD that by September 1, 1995 had not been annexed by Alvin Community College as in the Brazosport College zone.[10] As Ramsey Unit is not in the maps of Alvin CC, it is in the Brazosport College zone.[11] There was a section of H.B. No. 2744,[12] filed on March 6, 2007,[13] which would have changed the boundary between Alvin CC and Brazosport CC to put the Ramsey Unit in the Alvin CC service boundary.
Notable inmates
[edit]Notable inmates of the Ramsey Unit include:
Current (As of 2015[update]):
Inmate Name | Register Number | Status | Details |
---|---|---|---|
Shawn Allen Berry | 04693746 / 00894758 | Serving a life sentence. Eligible for parole in 2038. | Participated, along with Lawrence Brewer and John King, in the brutal 1998 murder of James Byrd Jr., in which Byrd was chained to a truck, and his body was dragged with the moving vehicle.[14][15][16][17] |
David Henry Tuck | 06716680 / 01403389 | Serving a life sentence. Eligible for parole in 2036. | Known for the 2006 Harris County, Texas hate crime assault in which he, along with Keith Robert Turner attacked fellow high school student David Ritcheson.[18][19][20] |
Roy Oliver | 09347254 / 02216845 | Serving a 15 year sentence. Eligible for parole in 2026. | Police officer who committed the 2017 Murder of Jordan Edwards in which Oliver shot him in a moving vehicle that was leaving a party.[21][22][23][24] |
Aaron York Dean | 10872300 / 02424353 | Serving an 11 year sentence. Eligible for parole in 2028. | Convicted of manslaughter over the 2019 Killing of Atatiana Jefferson, in which Dean killed her after showing up to her house with reports of an open front door.[25][26][27][28] |
Carlos Coy | 04236244 / 01110642 | Serving a 45 year sentence. Eligible for parole in 2024. | Rapper known as South Park Mexican who was sentenced in 2002 for molesting a minor.[29][30] |
Steven Hobbs | 08928224 / 02389446 | Serving a life sentence. Eligible for parole in 2041. | Serial killer who murdered 2 people, and sexually assaulted many others.[31][32][33] |
Juan David Ortiz | 11398548 / 02423750 | Serving a life sentence without parole. | Former Border Patrol agent who murdered 4 people in 2018.[34][35][36][37] |
Eddie Ray Routh | 08977806 / 01980993 | Serving a life sentence without parole. | Perpetrator of the 2013 Murders of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield[38][39][40][41] |
- Feanyichi Ezekwesi Uvukansi - Perpetrator of 2012 shooting outside a southwest Houston nightclub that left three people dead and rapper Trae tha Truth injured.[42][43]
Former:
- David Ruíz, plaintiff of Ruiz v. Estelle, served time at the historic Ramsey Farm.
- Michael Morton - Exonerated of the crime which he was convicted of. He had requested a transfer to Ramsey so he could complete a master's degree program there.[44]
- David Owen Brooks - perpetrator of the Houston Mass Murders[45]
- Ray Hill (American activist) - LGBT+ and Prison Rights activist, former host of The Prison Show on KPFT.
References
[edit]- ^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Brazoria County, TX" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 16 (PDF p. 17/67). Retrieved 2022-08-12.
Ramsey Unit
- ^ "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Rosharon CDP, TX." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 21, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Ramsey Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 16, 2010.
- ^ "Texas Department of Criminal Justice offers gang members chance for new life." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. September/October 2009. Retrieved on November 19, 2010.
- ^ "Convict Leasing and State Account Farming (1883-1909)." Texas State Library and Archives. Retrieved on April 29, 2011.
- ^ Trulson, Chad R., James W. Marquart, and Ben M. Crouch. First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System. University of Texas Press, 2009. 81. Retrieved from Google Books on July 16, 2010. ISBN 0-292-71983-3, ISBN 978-0-292-71983-5.
- ^ Trulson, Chad R., James W. Marquart, and Ben M. Crouch. First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System. University of Texas Press, 2009. 82. Retrieved from Google Books on July 16, 2010. ISBN 0-292-71983-3, ISBN 978-0-292-71983-5.
- ^ Ward, Mike. "Texas closing prison as part of cutbacks" (Archive). Austin American-Statesman at the Killeen Daily Herald. Wednesday August 3, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
- ^ Stevens, Wesley. Learning to Sing in a Strange Land: When a Loved One Goes to Prison. Wipf and Stock Publishers, January 8, 2009. ISBN 1621897966, 9781621897965. p. 83 (Google Books PT97).
- ^ Texas Education Code Sec. 130.170. BRAZOSPORT COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.: "(2) the Angleton Independent School District, except the part annexed by the Alvin Community College District before September 1, 1995."
- ^ The Taxation Map and College Zone map of Alvin Community College do not show Ramsey Unit, and based upon Texas Education Code Sec. 130.170. it would be in the Brazosport College zone.
- ^ "H.B. No. 2744." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011. "(3) the territory located in Brazoria County, situated to the west of the Alvin Community College District boundary as it existed on January 1, 2003, extending west to the eastern border of Fort Bend County, and south to County Roads 49, 34, and 255, including the City of Rosharon and the Darrington and Ramsey Units of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice."
- ^ "Bill: HB 2744." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011.
- ^ staff, CBSNews com staff CBSNews com (1999-11-05). "Dragging Verdict Aftermath - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Life Sentence in Dragging Death". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ Keys, Perryn. "JASPER: THE ROAD BACK: Did prison time turn man into one of Byrd's killers?" Beaumont Enterprise. June 9, 2008. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.
- ^ "Berry, Shawn Allen" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
- ^ "'Evil' Teen Gets Life For Party Assault - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2006-11-18. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Teen gets life for attack on Hispanic boy". NBC News. 2006-11-16. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Tuck, David Henry" (Archive) Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
- ^ Fernandez, Manny; Haag, Matthew (2017-05-05). "Police Officer Who Fatally Shot 15-Year-Old Texas Boy Is Charged With Murder". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Jury sentences former officer Roy Oliver to 15 years in death of teen". NBC News. 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Texas Officer Who Fatally Shot Black Teen Is Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison". Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ https://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=09347254
- ^ "Ex-officer Aaron Dean sentenced to more than 11 years in prison in the death of Atatiana Jefferson". NBC News. 2022-12-20. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ Gimbel, Annie; Scharfetter, Raegan (2022-12-20). "Aaron Dean sentenced to 11 years for manslaughter in fatal shooting of Atatiana Jefferson - CBS Texas". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Aaron Dean serving sentence at state prison in Southeast Texas". 28 December 2022.
- ^ "Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inmate Search".
- ^ Billboard Staff (2002-06-03). "Rapper South Park Mexican Sentenced For Assault". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. 254. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
- ^ "Steven Hobbs, longest current serving Harris Co. inmate, sentenced to life for 2 murders". ABC13 Houston. 2022-05-02. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ "Steven Alexander Hobbs sentenced to two life sentences after pleading guilty to capital murder charges". khou.com. 2022-05-02. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ Hensley, Nicole. "Steven Hobbs pleads guilty, handed life sentence in sex worker killings". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ "Border Patrol agent accused of serial killings wanted to 'commit suicide by cop,' officials say". NBC News. 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ "Border Patrol Agent Found Guilty of Killing Four Women". Retrieved 2024-04-12.
- ^ "Ex-Border Patrol agent Juan David Ortiz convicted in slayings of four sex workers - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ Jervis, Rick. "Juan David Ortiz found guilty, sentenced to life in Border Patrol serial killing of 4 women". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ TODAY, Larry Copeland, USA. "Suspect in 'American Sniper' killings claims PTSD". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Eddie Ray Routh Found Guilty in 'American Sniper' Murder Trial". NBC News. 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Eddie Ray Routh found guilty in killing of "American Sniper" Chris Kyle, Chad Littlefield - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ "Routh, Eddie Ray" ([1]). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on April 15, 2021.
- ^ "Feanyichi Ezekwesi Uvukansi | Texas Prison Inmates". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ Rogers, Brian (July 6, 2012). "Gang rivalry alleged in club killings". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ Colloff, Pamela (December 2012). "The Innocent Man, Part Two". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
- ^ "Offender Information Detail Brooks, David Owen" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015