The lawsuit over Anthony Johnson Jr.鈥檚 death in Tarrant County Jail custody isn't over, but Tarrant County has been spared from litigation.
Johnson died on April 21, 2024 after an altercation with Tarrant County jailers. One jailer knelt on his back, while Johnson said he couldn鈥檛 breathe. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner鈥檚 Office ruled Johnson鈥檚 death a homicide by asphyxiation, and two jailers 鈥� Rafael Moreno and Joel Garcia 鈥� have been indicted for murder.
Johnson鈥檚 family sued Tarrant County and more than a dozen jailers accused of involvement in Johnson's death. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Reed O鈥機onnor dismissed the claims against Tarrant County and six of the named jailers.
The lawsuit failed to prove that Tarrant County鈥檚 policies and procedures led to Johnson鈥檚 death, O鈥機onnor decided.
鈥淧laintiffs have not pleaded facts to show that the authorized policymaker, the Sheriff, approved both the outcome and the reasons for the actions that led to it,鈥� he wrote.
O鈥機onnor also ruled the lawsuit did not prove that six of the jailers were responsible for Johnson鈥檚 death, or that they showed negligence in not preventing it.
The lawsuit named two jailers, Robert Russ and Kyle Longo, who put Johnson in a wheelchair 鈥渂ut did absolutely nothing to assist.鈥�
Putting him in the wheelchair counts as taking some action, 鈥渨hether it was negligent or not,鈥� O鈥機onnor wrote.
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn responded to the dismissal in a press release Monday.
鈥淎nyone can file a lawsuit and make unfounded claims against a person or organization,鈥� Waybourn said. 鈥淔ortunately, our justice system requires evidence to support those allegations.鈥�
Johnson family attorney Daryl K. Washington plans to appeal the ruling, he told 四虎影院. He maintained the problems at the Tarrant County Jail are systemic.
"If Garcia and Moreno worked for Coca-Cola, and they injured or killed somebody during the course and scope of their duty, Coca-Cola would be held liable," he said.
The ruling is a disappointment, Krish Gundu of Texas Jail Project said in an emailed statement. Her organization advocates for better conditions in county jails across the state.
鈥淚t's our sincere hope that Mr. Johnson Jr's family gets the speedy justice they seek,鈥� Gundu wrote. 鈥淎dditionally, we hope the county, especially [the Tarrant County Sheriff鈥檚 Office], does not interpret this dismissal as a blank check to keep engaging in policies and procedures that have led to serious harms and deaths."
The two jailers indicted for murder, Moreno and Garcia, and seven others remain as defendants in the lawsuit.
Tarrant County isn鈥檛 financially off the hook in the Johnson lawsuit. The county is paying for lawyers for the jailers named as defendants.
That means the county is in the awkward position of defending Moreno and Garcia in the lawsuit while prosecuting them in criminal court.
That contradictory position is required by state law, then-county administrator G.K. Maenius said during a similar case in 2022. county employees who get sued for something they did on the job are entitled to legal representation from the county.
The case Maenius referred to was the in-custody death of Javonte Myers, which sparked a lawsuit and criminal prosecutions.
Myers鈥� family received a $1 million settlement in that lawsuit 鈥� part of the more than $4.3 million Tarrant County has paid to end jail lawsuits since 2022.
The most recent settlement of $775,000 went to the family of Kelly Masten, a woman with intellectual disabilities and a severe seizure disorder. She suffered severe injuries after the jail let her seize and fall repeatedly in her unpadded cell, the lawsuit alleged.
The largest settlement in county history went to Chasity Congious, who gave birth alone in her cell in 2020. Her daughter, Zenorah, died 10 days later.
Not including Zenorah, at least 69 people have died in Tarrant County custody since Waybourn took office in 2017. That number does include one person who died while housed at a private prison in West Texas, which Tarrant County previously used as overflow space.
The most recent death was on Saturday, when a 36-year-old man died "following complications from an attempted suicide," according to the sheriff鈥檚 office.
Waybourn has blamed deaths in custody on the fact that people come into jail with health problems. During an interview last year, he told 四虎影院 and the Fort Worth Report that he had someone in the hospital who was 鈥渧ery, very sick.鈥�
鈥淢edically speaking, his life is not going to be that long, unfortunately. But what will it be? That鈥檒l be a death in custody. We鈥檝e had a lot of those deaths like that,鈥� he said.
He also said jailers who do wrong are held accountable, like Moreno and Garcia.
Another former jailer agreed to pay $250,000 in restitution last year after he pleaded guilty to lying about checking on Myers, who died of a seizure disorder in his cell.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org.
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