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]
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]
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 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] |
Former:
Ramsey Unit
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Above facilities are male-only unless noted by ♀(female-only) or ♂♀ (cogender) | |||||||||||||||||
