Two fired jailers won’t be charged in Tarrant Jail inmate’s death

A Tarrant County grand jury has declined to indict two county jail officers who were fired by Sheriff Dee Anderson after an inmate committed suicide on their watch.

Larry Crowley, 52, was found dead in a single-occupant cell about 4 a.m. March 12. Crowley had been arrested the evening before after his female roommate said he shot her in the face with a BB gun.

Crowley suffocated by shoving two towels down his throat, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.

The two jail officers — Larry Joe Lars, 45, of Arlington, and Jeremiah Francis Fenwick, 32, of Fort Worth — were required to look in on Crowley every 20 minutes, sheriff’s department officials said.

But according to a departmental investigation conducted after Crowley’s death, Lars and Fenwick not only stopped observing Crowley regularly but they lied on their shift reports about how often they looked in on him and later lied to investigators who interviewed them after his death.

“Neither one was doing what was required,” Anderson said. “That’s the reason for the discipline that was handed down.”

Lars and Fenwick were suspended and placed on administrative leave with pay on March 12, about the same time internal affairs investigators began looking into Crowley’s death, according to documents reviewed by the Star-Telegram after an open records request.

Crowley was booked into jail about 7:30 p.m. and was placed in “special management housing” but was not on suicide watch, the investigative report said.

The last person to see Crowley alive was the shift supervisor, Sgt. Thomas Wall, who conducted a check at 12:31 a.m., according to a letter of intended disciplinary action to Lars. The last time Lars completed a face-to-face observation was at 12:27 a.m., the letter said.

Later, Lars could not recall the last time he saw Crowley alive and no other observations were done after midnight, the letter said. Jail surveillance video showed the officers walking past cells but not looking inside, the investigative report said.

“As a result, Inmate Crowley was not checked on by Officer Lars or Officer Fenwick for approximately 3.5 hours,” the report said.

Wall told investigators that he responded to a medical emergency alert sounded by Lars and saw Fenwick standing outside Crowley’s cell, appearing unconcerned about the inmate’s medical situation and displaying no sense of urgency.

The nurse who examined Crowley said he was dead and when Wall asked if she needed an automated external defibrillator, she said it was too late.

The officers’ floor activity report does not include the medical emergency alert.

One officer to appeal

Anderson said that MHMR Tarrant County staff members who screen inmates decide which ones get placed on suicide watch, not his officers.

MHMR spokeswoman Catherine Carlton declined to discuss Crowley’s case specifically, saying that information is privileged. But, in general, she said, when a person with a mental illness diagnosis is jailed, the inmate is not automatically placed on suicide watch.

As for the attention given by jail officers, “There are different standards depending on the level of risk that inmates there pose,” Anderson said. “Sometimes it’s every 20 minutes, 15 minutes. Some who have tried suicide before are continually observed.”

Based on the internal investigation findings, Anderson said, the department filed a case against the Lars and Fenwick with the Tarrant County district attorney’s office. That case was presented to the grand jury in May. The grand jury returned the no-bill on May 8.

“I was disappointed with their decision,” Anderson said. “We wanted to send as strong a message as possible. But I understand that the grand jury looked at all the evidence, and I respect the process.”

Prosecutors believed the case merited an indictment for tampering with a government document, but it was not their call to make, Samantha Jordan, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office, said in an emailed statement.

“The grand jury is an independent entity and the decision was made by the jurors,” she said.

Fenwick’s attorney, Kenneth Price, said his client spent significant blocks of time that night away from his post escorting other inmates who were being transferred for medical reasons or helping other officers. He was counting on Lars to conduct the face-to-face inmate inspections.

If Crowley had any mental health issues, Price said, Fenwick was not aware of them.

“One of our beliefs is that there is inadequate staffing,” Price said. “Both guards were [required] to do other things. They were told there would be an inspection later and that everything needed to be neat and clean.”

Fenwick is appealing his firing and has a hearing date set for Aug. 6, Price said.

Attempts to reach Lars, or his attorney, Matthew McConahay, were unsuccessful.

‘Guy’s not all there’

Crowley was arrested March 11 at a residence in the 100 block of Syble Jean Drive in unincorporated Tarrant County by sheriff’s deputies responding to a shooting call.

The Star-Telegram obtained a recording of the 911 call made at 5:30 p.m. The caller said her neighbor was hiding in a Jeep Grand Cherokee while waiting for law enforcement and emergency medical personnel.

“We were sitting on the couch watching COPS,” the 911 caller told the dispatcher, quoting the victim. “Then he went into his room and he just came out and shot her. She says this guy’s not all there.”

The 911 caller said there was blood everywhere.

Crowley’s son, Drew Crowley, 24, said he was not aware his father had been arrested until after his death. He said he has been trying to get information about how his father died but was told by sheriff’s department officials that he had to wait until the investigation was over.

Drew Crowley said his father had schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, sometimes heard strange voices in his head and sometimes did things that were difficult to explain. He said the grand jury’s decision concerning the two officers surprised him.

“They did not do their jobs,” Drew said of the correctional officers. “Maybe they thought that no one would care.”

Drew Crowley also said it was difficult to understand the way his father died, shutting off his airway by forcing towels into his mouth.

“I just want to know what happened to him really,” Drew said. “It’s hard on a family, the loss of a dad.”

Unusual way to die

A washcloth and a knotted terry cloth towel were removed from Crowley’s oral cavity and throat, the autopsy report stated.

Those are part of a standard hygiene kit given to inmates who are not on suicide watch, said Terry Grisham, the sheriff’s department spokesman.

They way Crowley used those towels was unusual but not unheard of. It comes down to how serious a person is about committing suicide, said Kevin Whaley, assistant chief medical examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“Initially you will be able to breathe, but as the secretions soak into the towel, that would become more difficult,” Whaley said. “Then the soft tissue spasms and swells up and your muscles sort of grab hold of it so you cannot yank it out.”

The whole process could take as little as two or three minutes, said Whaley, who is the forensic correspondent for the American Society for Clinical Pathology.

Committing suicide in this way is uncomfortable but there would not be a great amount of pain involved, Whaley said.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Two fired jailers won’t be charged in Tarrant Jail inmate’s death."