A second person has died in the Tarrant County Jail this year after spending days in Fort Worth's John Peter Smith Hospital with an unspecified medical issue.
The unidentified 56-year-old died Tuesday, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said in a statement released Thursday. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office had not released the person's name or gender as of Thursday afternoon.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the person was arrested by the Grand Prairie Police Department on Jan. 24 for outstanding felony warrants and was transported to the Tarrant County Jail the next day. The person was placed in medical housing under 24-hour observation and care the entire time they were in Sheriff's Office custody, Laurie Passman, Sheriff's Office director of public information, said in an email.
The person's medical details are now part of an open investigation and information will be available once the investigation is concluded, she said.
After being transported to John Peter Smith Hospital Saturday for unspecified medical reasons, the person died three days later.
At least 70 people have died in Tarrant County Jail custody since Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office in 2017.
Waybourn was reelected in November despite calls for his resignation from community members, activists, and at least one county commissioner.
The calls for resignation were sparked after the in-custody death of Anthony Johnson Jr. in April. At least one detention officer and supervisor have been indicted for murder in connection with Johnson's death.
The detention officer and supervisor are among 15 jailers listed in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Johnson's family.
Waybourn previously declined to brief county commissioners on the jail's operating procedures following a report by KERA that the jail's restraint policies had not been updated in more than 15 years. An investigation by KERA and the Fort Worth Report found that the sheriff's office had drafted revised policies in 2021 but never implemented them.
However, the county has been dropped from the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor dismissed the claims against Tarrant County and six of the named jailers, deciding that the lawsuit failed to prove that Tarrant County’s policies and procedures led to Johnson’s death.
In a press release, Waybourn said he was grateful for O'Connor's decision.
“Anyone can file a lawsuit and make unfounded claims against a person or organization,” Waybourn said. “Fortunately, our justice system requires evidence to support those allegations.”
Got a tip? Email Megan Cardona at mcardona@kera.org.
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