After Tarrant County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a 19-year-old while serving a mental health warrant last month, county commissioners are wondering if a mental health professional should respond to these crises alongside law enforcement.
Deputies shot Christopher Loyo while serving the warrant at his home in Haltom City on Jan. 31, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office. The release states that Loyo injured an officer with a blade, and deputies shot him in response. It does not specify how many times Loyo was shot.
Loyo’s brother, Jorge Loyo, told Tarrant County commissioners at a meeting Wednesday he was the one who requested the mental health warrant. He did it so Christopher could get help, he said.
"I just got done burying my 19-year-old brother. My mother’s right there. What do I say to her?” he said.
A mental health warrant allows authorities to detain someone if they’re in a mental health crisis, and they pose a danger to themselves or others, according to My Health My Resources of Tarrant County (MHMR). In 2024, the sheriff's office served 427 mental health warrants and transported people taken into custody to mental health facilities, the press release states.
A briefing on Loyo’s death was on the Tarrant County Commissioners Court agenda Wednesday. Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons asks for these briefings whenever there's a death in county custody.
Sheriff Bill Waybourn was not present for the briefing. He had been at the meeting earlier, when several deputies were recognized for bravery during an incident where a suspect shot at them, according to county agenda documents.
County Administrator Chandler Merritt read the sheriff’s press release about Loyo’s death. Simmons then asked questions about the procedure for serving a mental health warrant to an empty podium.
In an emailed statement, sheriff's office spokesperson Laurie Passman said commissioners were informed ahead of the time the sheriff's office would not give a briefing on Loyo's death.
"This type of questioning in a public forum only leads to assumptions, rumors and misinformation being released into the community," Passman wrote. "We need to wait until the investigation is complete and we have all the facts."
A sheriff's office representative did end up speaking before the court. Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare asked if there was anyone in the room who could answer Simmons’ questions, and Senior Chief Deputy Calvin Bond stepped forward.
Once a judge approves a mental health warrant, the sheriff's office contacts the person’s family and coordinates with them, Bond explained.
“An operational plan is devised by the warrant deputies, for the safety of the individual being taken into custody and our officers, and it’s executed that way,” he said.
Bond referred Simmons’ specific questions about the case to the Texas Rangers, the law enforcement agency assigned to investigate Loyo’s shooting.
Simmons then asked whether sheriff’s deputies are trained to deal with mental health crises. Some do have specialized training and are certified as mental health officers by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, Bond said.
Simmons also wondered if the sheriff’s office brings a non-law enforcement mental health professional on calls like this.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Bond said, adding, “We would love to have the manpower to be able to do that.”
Some local law enforcement agencies do have such programs. Simmons pointed to the Grand Prairie Police Department, which pairs a licensed mental health professional with a specially trained police officer to respond to mental health crisis calls, according to its website.
O’Hare asked county staff to explore what it would take for the sheriff's office to develop a similar approach.
In an email, Passman said the sheriff's office would not be interested in such a program. Civilians aren't police officers, and they don't belong in a warrant service situation, she said.
"We would never want to put civilian personnel in any potentially dangerous or volatile position. While the majority of Mental Health Warrants served result in a positive outcome, you can’t predict how an individual will respond. These situations have potential to escalate quickly," she said.
Simmons and other commissioners offered their condolences to Loyo’s family. Republican Commissioner Manny Ramirez, a longtime Fort Worth police officer, said Loyo's death “never should have happened.”
"We have to have a system to make sure it doesn’t happen,” he said.
Democratic Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr. echoed Ramirez.
“I am committed to making sure people who are in mental health crisis don’t die when they’re in our custody and care,” he said.
In an interview as she left the meeting, Loyo’s mother, María Elena Guerrero, said her son’s killing has left her feeling powerless, with no faith in law enforcement.
Guerrero still doesn’t even know how many times her son was shot, she said. She has many questions about how her son died, and she asked the sheriff to give her answers.
“Jamás, jamás volveré a pedir ayuda a alguna autoridad," she said. (“I will never, ever ask for help from the authorities again.”)
This story has been updated with comments from the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
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