Fort Worth

54-year-old inmate in Tarrant jail dies at hospital Wednesday from blood clot.

A view of the Tarrant County Jail with Fort Worth's downtown skyline behind it.
The Tarrant County Corrections Center, right, and Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in downtown Fort Worth on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. amccoy@star-telegram.com

A 54-year-old man who was in custody of the Tarrant County Jail died Wednesday.

Antonio Deluca died at John Peter Smith Hospital, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. Deluca died after a blood clot got stuck in an artery, according to the medical examiner.

Deluca is the 11th person to die in the jail’s custody this year.

Alvie Johnson Jr., 74, was found by jailers Jan. 1 with a head injury. Johnson was unconscious and taken to JPS Hospital, where he was placed on life support, according to the Attorney General’s Office. He died two days later.

James Carrell New, 80, died Feb. 19 after spending a month in the jail. He was transferred to JPS on Jan. 28 for hypothermia with chest pain. He tested positive for COVID-19 a week earlier. The medical examiner declined to perform an autopsy.

Also in February, Edgar Villatoro-Alvarez, 40, of Austin, died in the ICU after being transferred from the jail. A cause of death is not yet listed on the medical examiner’s website.

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office has not released any information about Villatoro-Alvarez’s death. Law enforcement agencies must provide information about in-custody deaths to the Attorney General’s Office. The filed report says only that Villatoro-Alvarez was taken to JPS after “a medical emergency was called.” The Fort Worth Police Department is investigating his death.

On June 17, Oh Young Park, 54, died by suicide in the jail. Park is the fourth man to die by hanging while inside the jail since 2020.

A week later, Thomas Simpkins, 70, died of heart failure. He had a previous diagnosis, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Richard Marta, 50, was arrested in August and taken to the hospital after he contracted COVID-19. He was treated for chest pains and hypertension, according to the Attorney General’s Office. On Aug. 26, he had heart surgery was listed in critical condition after. His family made the decision to remove his ventilator, according to the report.

In July, Trelynn Wormley, 23, was found unresponsive in his cell. Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn told KXAS-TV that he died of an apparent fentanyl overdose, the station reported. Fort Worth police is investigating his death.

Lyonell Mitchell Jr., 72, died in JPS’s ICU on Sept. 14, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. A cause of death is not yet listed.

Kenneth Ray Perry, 65, was taken to jail on Sept. 27 on a criminal trespassing charge. He was found unresponsive in his cell just before 6 a.m. on Sept. 29, according to a report recently filed with the Texas Attorney General. He died two days later at the hospital.

Kelvin Lavon Brown, 56, was taken to the hospital on Oct. 28, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said. He was being treated at JPS for Stage 4 cancer when he passed away.

This story was originally published November 17, 2022 at 11:55 AM.

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Nichole Manna
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Nichole Manna was an award-winning investigative reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from 2018 to 2023, focusing on criminal justice. Previously, she was a reporter at newspapers in Tennessee, North Carolina, Nebraska and Kansas. She is on Twitter: @NicholeManna
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