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Texas Sheriff not eager to explain why 70 people have died in his jail [1]
['Rob Beschizza']
Date: 2025-09-04
Since Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office in 2017, at least 70 people have died in the county jail—a rate more than three times that in federal custody and vastly higher than other regional lockups. Waybourn is refusing to attend briefings about the custodial deaths; if people want to know more, they can file public record requests, he says.
The sheriff's office already sends out press releases about each death, Waybourn wrote in the email. If Simmons, journalists or members of the public have questions about jail deaths, they can submit a public records request, he said. The briefings are for the public, not herself, Simmons said. "If you don't want your staff to come down here and take questions, that's your responsibility in the first place. I didn't ask you to send staff, I asked you to come down here," she said. "And where are you? Big tall guy, big hat, guns, everything, and you can't take questions from the citizenry? Your constituents?"
A back-of-the-envelope calculation: there have been about 2800 deaths in federal custody since 2017 in the U.S., population about 340m, for a death rate of about 0.8 deaths per 100k. 70 deaths in Tarrant County (2.2m) jail in the same period is about 3 deaths per 100k. The death rate in Tarrant County jail is more than 3x the expected rate.
The diplomatic way to put it would be that Waybourn created an environment where people are more likely to die. But you don't need to be diplomatic, because it's a plain fact that jailers are killing inmates: two are currently awaiting trial for murder and more than $4.3m has been paid out over other deaths, including the biggest settlement in Tarrant County history. The circumstances speak for themselves.
Fort Worth police officer David Nguyen arrested Chasity Congious, who had several diagnosed mental health disorders. Nguyen jailed Congious instead of being taken to John Peter Smith Hospital for involuntary commitment, as was requested by her family. Congious was held for several months without adequate medical and mental health treatments, and her child, named Z.C.H. in court documents, died shortly after birth inside a jail cell. She was then denied her request to attend the newborn's funeral.
Fort Worthians keep voting for it, though.
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https://boingboing.net/2025/09/04/texas-sheriff-not-eager-to-explain-why-70-people-have-died-in-his-jail.html
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