A 40-year-old inmate died Tuesday after he was found unresponsive during a routine cell check at the Tarrant County Jail, marking the second in-custody death reported at the jail in as many days and the third this year.
A detention officer found the man kneeling beside his bed and not responding to verbal greetings, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. The officer entered the cell and found the man was experiencing a medical emergency.
Jail personnel began life-saving measures, which continued after medical staff from John Peter Smith Hospital arrived, officials said. The man was taken to JPS Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The man had been taken into custody by Fort Worth police on a charge of possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana and was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on June 14, two days before his death, according to the sheriff’s office.
During a standard medical screening at booking, the man refused to cooperate or consent to a medical assessment, officials said.
The sheriff’s office said staff work to identify medical and mental health concerns when people are booked into the jail, but that jail staff cannot compel people in custody to follow medical guidance from doctors and nurses from John Peter Smith Hospital.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the man’s cause of death and release his identity.
According to Tarrant County annual jail reports, the facility reported six in custody deaths in 2025 and nine each in 2024 and 2025.
All in-custody deaths are reviewed by sheriff’s office jail staff, the agency’s Criminal Investigations Division, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, an outside law enforcement agency, JPS medical staff, the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, officials said.