A Fort Worth family is calling for change at the Tarrant County jail after their loved one died in custody on Sunday.
31-year-old Anthony Johnson died Sunday after suffering a medical emergency following a confrontation with officers in which he was pepper sprayed, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office said.
In an emotional interview today, Johnson’s family told NBC 5 those numbers were unacceptable and they’re still searching for answers about what led to his death.A US Marine Corps veteran, the sisters said Anthony, who they called AJ, was intelligent, loving and motivated.He was arrested on Friday by Saginaw police, who said Johnson was standing in the street and waving a knife at drivers.
“We’re told we can’t even see him,” said Chanell Johnson. “And it’s just like, when you get told someone dies, how do we know it’s real?” “What’s the medical emergency, pepper spray?” said Janell Johnson. “And why can’t they say what it was?”His family said Johnson tried to seek inpatient medical treatment for schizophrenia in recent months, but providers wouldn’t take him in – and he was eventually arrested during a manic episode.
NBC 5 reached out to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office for a response to the family’s concerns about what led up to Johnson’s death.We also asked TCSO for a response to concerns about deaths among the Tarrant jail inmate population in recent years, what the sheriff’s office believed has contributed to that total, and what measures are in place to mitigate inmate deaths.
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