Jail inmate, 31, dies in Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office custody at Fort Worth hospital
A man who was incarcerated in the custody of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office died on Wednesday at a hospital, authorities said.
Derreal Jackson, 31, was pronounced dead about 6 a.m. at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. The cause and manner of Jackson’s death were not clear.
About an hour before he died, Jackson experienced a medical emergency at the jail, according to a sheriff’s office account that does not use Jackson’s name. He was found unresponsive in his cell. Life-saving measures were taken, and Jackson was driven to the hospital.
Jackson was booked on Tuesday into the Tarrant County Jail, and JPS Hospital medical staff first examined him there. Jackson said he ingested fentanyl before arriving, according to the sheriff’s office account. Jail staff sent him to the hospital for further evaluation. Jackson was later returned to the jail and was being monitored by medical personnel under detox protocol, according to the sheriff’s office.
Fort Worth police arrested Jackson on suspicion of theft, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance and manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance.
Jackson is the sixth person who has died in Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office custody in 2023. Each died at JPS after they were taken there from a jail.
Forensic pathologists employed by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office performed autopsies in each case. The office has released a cause and manner of death in two of the cases. It found Heidiann Gitts died of mixed drug toxicity involving fentanyl and methamphetamine in an accident and that Adrian Chevez died of hanging in a suicide.
In custodial death reports it submitted to The Office of the Attorney General of Texas, the sheriff’s office described the following accounts of the five cases this year before Jackson’s death:
George Zink, 57, died on Feb. 15. Zink had declined to eat two consecutive meals and was being evaluated by medical personnel when he experienced a medical emergency.
Gitts, 32, died on March 20. She was housed under detox protocol after she was booked. Gitts experienced a medical emergency in the shower area of her pod.
Jason Jackson, 36, died on March 23. Jackson experienced a medical emergency in his pod.
Chevez, 39, died on June 24. Chevez was found hanging in his cell, where there was a suicide note.
Jo Ann Lemmons, 55, died on June 27. Lemmons experienced a medical emergency in her cell.
This story was originally published August 3, 2023 at 6:41 PM.
