Inmate dies while in custody in Tarrant County
FORT WORTH – Another Tarrant County inmate has died while in custody.
The inmate was pronounced dead Monday after being taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, according to a Tarrant County Sheriff's Office news release.
She initially refused additional medical treatment – and asked to return to her cell – after being found unresponsive. Less than two hours later, just before 11 a.m. Monday, staff responded to a medical emergency when "the inmate became unresponsive," the sheriff's office said.
MedStar transported the inmate to JPS, where she died, the release said. Medical staff had attempted life-saving measures and administered Narcan twice.
According to the sheriff's office, the inmate – who was being held on a theft charge and a parole violation – had been in custody since May 16.
Plans are for the Tarrant County Medical Examiner to release her name and cause of death.
In April, a commissioner called for a federal investigation after two recent Tarrant County inmate deaths.
Last week, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill E. Waybourn walked CBS News Texas anchor Doug Dunbar through the moments surrounding inmate Anthony Johnson Jr.'s controversial death.
Johnson's family previously had expressed outrage after the sheriff released video from in-custody death.
As with all in-custody jail deaths, the release said, the latest death will be investigated by:
- Tarrant County Sheriff's Office jail staff,
- TCSO Criminal Investigations Division,
- JPS Medical Staff,
- Texas Commission on Jail Standards,
- Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office,
- Texas Attorney General's Office, and
- An outside law enforcement agency.
CBS New Texas will provide additional information as it becomes available.
