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Tarrant County jailers fired again after murder indictment for Anthony Johnson Jr.’s death

dallasnews.com 2 days ago

The two jailers were fired in May and then reinstated and suspended a week later to ensure proper procedures were followed.

Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn refired two jailers for their involvement in the April...
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn refired two jailers for their involvement in the April 21 in-custody death of Anthony Johnson Jr. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)(Andrew Harnik)

Two Tarrant County jailers have been fired, again, for their roles in the in-custody death of Anthony Johnson Jr.

Rafael Moreno, a jailer seen on video kneeling on the 31-year-old’s back, and Lt. Joel Garcia, his supervisor, were indicted for murder Friday by a Tarrant County grand jury.

“The wheels of justice continue to turn in this case,” Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in a statement about the indictment. “I said from the beginning that we [would] hold accountable anyone responsible for Mr. Johnson’s death and we are doing that.”

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On Tuesday, Waybourn fired Moreno and Garcia for their role in Johnson’s death. The firings were announced in a one-sentence news release Wednesday morning, which did not clarify if the firings were a result of the murder indictments.

Johnson, a Marine Corps veteran who was reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia, died April 21 after he had been in the jail for two days. The sheriff’s office originally said Johnson had died from a “medical emergency,” which resulted from a fight and the use of pepper spray after he refused to exit his cell for a search.

The sheriff’s office later released video of the incident, which showed multiple jailers kneeling on his back as he yelled “I can’t breathe.” Waybourn announced the firing of Moreno and Garcia with the video’s release in May, but reversed it a week later when he reinstated and suspended them. At the time, Garcia’s attorney said they were reinstated to ensure proper civil service procedures were followed.

Johnson is one of at least 64 people who have died in the Tarrant County jail since 2017, which has spurred widespread scrutiny. Over three-fourths of the deaths were related to medical conditions or COVID-19, according to a sheriff’s office spokesperson.

Julia James, Breaking News Reporter . Julia is a breaking news reporter with the Dallas Morning News. She is a Louisiana native and a graduate of the University of Mississippi where she studied journalism and public policy. She previously covered education for Mississippi Today in Jackson, Miss.

julia.james@dallasnews.com juliaruthjames
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