09/29/2026
An inmate serving three life sentences for s*xually assaulting a 10-year-old girl has died at the Telford Unit, according to a custodial death report filed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Daniel Allen Bradshaw, 67, was found unresponsive in his cell Sept. 17. Prison staff began lifesaving measures and took him to the medical department, where he was pronounced dead. His cause and manner of death were pending an autopsy, the report says.
A Johnson County jury convicted Bradshaw in 2000 of three counts of aggravated s*xual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child by s*xual contact. Jurors imposed a life sentence on each assault count and 20 years on the indecency count, according to court records.
The 10-year-old girl’s mother met Bradshaw while living at a halfway house. After her release in December 1999, they moved into her sister’s home in Cleburne, where the girl also stayed, according to a 2001 appellate opinion.
The girl testified that Bradshaw assaulted her three times over about two months. Her 11-year-old friend, who often visited the home, testified that he touched her inappropriately.
The younger girl first told her mother Bradshaw had touched her but withdrew the allegation after her mother confronted them both. She later gave her aunt a fuller account. Her friend told her own father what had happened to her, the opinion says.
At trial, Bradshaw argued that any touching was accidental and that the younger girl had made up the allegations. Jurors also heard from her 14-year-old cousin, who testified that Bradshaw had touched her inappropriately.
The appeals court ruled that the cousin’s testimony was properly admitted to help jurors assess Bradshaw’s claim that the contact was accidental. It also rejected his argument that his lawyer should have challenged the aunt’s testimony about the younger girl’s disclosure. The court upheld his convictions in November 2001.
Bradshaw entered TDCJ custody in October 2000 and arrived at Telford in December 2022, prison records show.
RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential support 24 hours a day at 800-656-HOPE (4673).