68-year-old inmate with medical issues dies while in the custody of Tarrant County
A Tarrant County Jail inmate who was at John Peter Smith Hospital for treatment died last week, increasing the number of inmate deaths to 10 this year, according to officials at the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
Dale Garland Thompson, 68, died at 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 28.
“He had been admitted to the hospital and was under the care of JPS medical staff for multiple medical issues at the time of his death,” said Lt. Jennifer Gabbert with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office in a news release.
An evaluation by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office was not planned, according to a state custodial death report.
Thompson’s medical issues included liver cancer, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and sepsis, the state report indicated.
Thompson had been booked into the Tarrant County Jail in February 2019 for a parole violation and he had an additional charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
The Texas Rangers, who investigate all in-custody deaths, have completed an investigation into Thompson’s death.
“On September 28, at the request of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department, Texas Rangers were requested to investigate an in-custody death at JPS Hospital in Fort Worth,” said Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Lonny Haschel in a Tuesday email. “The individual was in the inmate patient area and attended by a physician.”
Thompson was the 10th inmate to die this year while in the custody of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
Here are the other inmate deaths this year:
▪ February: Ricky Farmer, 57, was found unresponsive in his jail after being given a tray of food, according to a state report. He later died at John Peter Smith Hospital. The report doesn’t give a cause of death and Farmer’s death is not listed on the medical examiner’s website.
▪ March: Willie Goode, 61, was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital during a book-in for medical treatment. A state report does not say what the treatment was for and his death is also not listed on the medical examiner’s website.
▪ April: Dean Ray Stewart, 50, was found dead in his jail cell by suicide. A state investigation found that jail employees were late to check on Stewart three times. At one point, he was left alone for nearly an hour when jailers were 21 minutes late to a check. The jail temporarily lost its state certification for not being compliant with checks.
▪ May: Jose Manuel Rivera, 67, became the first and only detainee to die of COVID-19 while being held at the jail.
▪ June: Javonte Myers, 28, was found unresponsive in his cell. The medical examiner listed his cause of death as a seizure disorder, but his family questions whether or not he was neglected.
Jason Glendon Martin, 40, died of heart disease.
Abdullahi Mohamed, 40, died. His cause of death is still listed as pending.
▪ September: Dalanna Price, 44, was found dead in her jail cell, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. The cause of her death hasn’t yet been determined, according the medical examiner’s website.
Andre Wilson, 34, died at JPS Hospital after being transferred there from the Tarrant County Jail, according to the county medical examiner. The cause of his death hasn’t been determined, according to the medical examiner’s website. He was found unresponsive in his jail cell and life-saving measures were taken, the sheriff’s office said.
