HOUSTON – More than seven months have passed since a Houston woman died, leaving her family with unanswered questions about the cause of her death as her autopsy remains pending at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Deborah Jackson was 68 when she passed away on June 28, 2024, about six months after she moved to Houston to be closer to her son Casey Fry.
“Mom lived a hard life for most of her life, you know, and the health issues were always there,” Fry said. “I think she knew the end was kind of near.”
Described as quirky and fun, Deborah lived with multiple health conditions, including multiple sclerosis, diabetes, heart problems, and a seizure disorder.
Her passing was not entirely unexpected but without answers, Fry said it’s hard to move forward.
“Is it like kind of a medical situation where doctors weren’t paying attention and, you know, the prescriptions maybe didn’t work out or weren’t the right ones for her? Was it just sort of a natural thing that she had a seizure disorder? Did she, you know, have a seizure or a stroke?” Casey questioned.
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences’ case status website still lists the cause and manner of death as pending. Casey expressed frustration over the lack of communication, stating that even a simple update would be helpful.
He has been unable to reach anyone for answers, leaving him feeling in limbo, he said, adding that the situation is further complicated by the fact that his mother’s life insurance policy requires a cause of death on the certificate within 12 months.
“The fact that she scraped together her little nickels and dimes to, like, have a policy to leave my brother and I was really like sweet, you know, and her last kind of contribution,” Fry said. “I get that you’re probably doctors with a lot of education and experience. Part of your job is still customer service, right? Like, I’m a person who, you know, my sort of future and my, like, emotional state to a certain extent is like in your hands.
While Fry insists it’s not about the money, he emphasized the need to know to move forward.
“It’s like the uncertainty of having to carry the situation around, right? Just having this little thing weighing on you,” he explained.
KPRC 2 reached out to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences for a status update on the case and to understand the delay but no response has been received.
The medical examiner’s office notes online that each death is different, and some autopsies can take several months.