Fort Worth inmate with heart problem dies just after being sentenced, authorities say
A Fort Worth inmate who was sentenced to prison in July died Saturday evening at a Fort Worth hospital, authorities said Sunday.
Jackson Lee Murphy, 56, was pronounced dead at 9:34 p.m. Saturday, according to officials with the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Murphy had been at John Peter Smith Hospital the past four weeks suffering from heart problems, authorities said Sunday. A ruling on his death is pending an autopsy.
Murphy was sentenced July 15 to two years in prison for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, according to Tarrant County criminal court records. The offense occurred Oct. 11, 2018, and the case was investigated by Fort Worth police.
After someone is sentenced in a Texas county, Texas officials have 45 days to transfer an inmate to a prison, said David McClelland, a spokesman with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office in a Sunday telephone interview with the Star-Telegram.
“He (Murphy) was never picked up because he’s been in the hospital,” McClelland said.
This story was originally published September 1, 2019 at 3:11 PM.
