Jan. 29, 2008, 12:34PM

Death-row inmate convicted for Harris deputy killing commits suicide

By TERRI LANGFORD

Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

A death row inmate convicted in the 2001 murder of a Harris County Sheriff's deputy killed himself inside his prison cell this morning, a prison official confirmed.

A correctional officer was making a routine cell check at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston when he discovered Jesus Flores' blood-covered body at 4 a.m, said Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Flores was pronounced dead at 5:08 a.m. A preliminary investigation indicates Flores cut his own throat then tried to scrawl a note with his blood on the cell wall.

"It appeared he had tried to write something on the wall but it appeared largely illegible," Lyons said. The 25-year-old death row inmate was sentenced to die following his conviction in the May 22, 2001 shooting death of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Dennis.

On that night, Flores, a pool installer and laborer, had stolen a family member's car. Flores shot Dennis in the head as the deputy was handcuffing him. Since the death penalty was reinstated in Texas in 1974, there have been eight suicides by Texas death row inmates.

John Devries, the first man placed on Texas Death Row in 1974, committed suicide that same year by hanging himself with bed sheets.

The most recent suicide before Flores' was on Oct. 19, 2006, when Michael Johnson cut his own throat on the morning of his execution. terri.langford@ chron.com