Leaders pay no heed as drugs ‘run rampant’ in Tarrant County jails, lawsuit alleges
Tarrant County has a “de facto policy” of letting drugs and other contraband into jails, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Fort Worth earlier this month.
The lawsuit was filed by Cassandra Johnson, the mother of Trelynn Wormley, who died in the Tarrant County jail on July 20, 2022. The medical examiner found that Wormley’s death was due to a fentanyl overdose.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Fort Worth on July 19. Aryanna Stafford, the mother of Wormley’s child, who is a minor, is also listed as a plaintiff.
Tarrant County “has a widespread pattern and practice of subjecting its prisoners to harm by allowing deadly drugs to run rampant throughout its correctional facilities,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also accuses the county of failing to treat and protect people in custody who suffer from mental health issues “who are more prone to substance abuse.”
It alleges that there have been 145 in-custody deaths in Tarrant County since 2017, with at least 64 of those occurring among people in custody of the Sheriff’s Office.
At least six of those, including Wormley, were due to drug toxicity, according to medical examiner records.
The county medical examiner has yet to release the cause of death for Chasity Bonner, who died in the Tarrant County jail on May 27, but the sheriff’s department reported that she was given Narcan by jail medical staff attempting to resuscitate her after she was found unresponsive in her cell. Narcan is a nasal spray used to counteract the effects of opioids.
“The deadliness of such drugs coupled with detainees’ vulnerabilities require that correctional facilities have strict and effective systems in place to prevent drugs and other contraband from making their way inside its walls and into the hands of its detainees,” the lawsuit states.
Representatives from the county and the Sheriff’s Office declined to comment citing pending litigation. The Criminal District Attorney’s Office, which defends the county in such litigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit mentions 25 other instances of in-custody deaths resulting from drug toxicity and unattended mental health and addiction issues, including one of a person who was in Fort Worth Police custody at the time of his death.
A police department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the deaths mentioned is that of Anthony Johnson Jr., who was killed in the Tarrant County jail during an altercation with jailers in April. The medical examiner ruled Johnson’s death a homicide.
Johnson’s parents filed a lawsuit against the county and several jailers earlier this month.
The suit alleges that several internal memos concerning drugs and other contraband have gone unheeded for years.
The lawsuit mentions Aaliyah Lyles, a commissary employee who was arrested for smuggling drugs into the Green Bay jail facility less than two months after Wormley’s death. Lyles was sentenced earlier this month to 10 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony charge of delivery of a controlled substance, according to Tarrant County court records.
The suit also refers to three other cases in which jailers either brought illegal drugs into the jails or failed to properly search inmates in possession of drugs.
Attorney Ben Crump, whose firm filed the suit alongside lawyers from the McCathern law firm, said in an emailed statement to the Star-Telegram that the case is a “crucial step” in holding the county accountable for Wormley’s death. Both are national firms with offices in the Metroplex.
“The presence of illicit drugs in jails is not just a failure of security but a violation of human rights,” Crump said. “Trelynn’s death was entirely preventable, and it highlights a systemic issue where vulnerable individuals are put at risk due to deliberate indifference and incompetence.”
Crump represented the family of George Floyd in their lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and the police officers responsible for his death, which resulted in a $27 million settlement in March 2021. He also represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor and others killed by police in recent years.
The lawsuit also mentions a call from U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey for the federal government to investigate the “distressing pattern of inmate deaths and jail incidents” at the Tarrant County jail.
Veasey called the deaths in the jail “intolerable” in a May 23 letter to the U.S. Department of Justice.
This story was originally published July 29, 2024 at 4:15 PM.
