KERA | By Miranda Suarez
PublishedJune 28, 2024 at 10:36 AM CDT
UpdatedJune 28, 2024 at 5:48 PM CDT
Two Tarrant County jailers have been indicted on murder charges in the death of Anthony Johnson Jr.
Johnson, 31, died after an altercation with detention officers on April 21. In video of the incident released by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, Officer Rafael Moreno is seen kneeling on Johnson's back for about 90 seconds while Johnson is restrained on the ground. Lt. Joel Garcia filmed the incident, according to the sheriff's office.
In the video, Johnson told jailers he couldn't breathe. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office declared his death a homicide, caused bymechanical and chemical asphyxiation.
Both Moreno and Garcia were indicted for murder in Johnson's death by grand jury. The indictments were filed June 25, court records show.
These indictments are a good step, but more people need to be held accountable, Johnson family attorney Daryl Washington told KERA Friday. There was a crowd of guards involved in the altercation that resulted in Johnson's death.
"You had multiple individuals who were holding Anthony's leg," Washington said. "You had individuals who were just standing around there, not doing anything."
The indictments were available Friday morning through the Tarrant County District Clerk Online portal, a paid court record search service.
Later Friday morning, Moreno and Garcia's cases had disappeared from the website. When KERA reached out to the district clerk's office to find out why, an employee said it's possible the documents were not supposed to be made public.
Saved copies of the indictments as they were originally posted are included here.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office confirmed the indictments in a written statement and said the case now goes to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office for prosecution.
“The wheels of justice continue to turn in this case,” Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in the statement. “I said from the beginning that we hold accountable anyone responsible for Mr. Johnson’s death and we are doing that.”
The DA's Office declined a request for comment, as it does not comment on pending cases.
KERA also reached out to attorneys representing Moreno and Garcia.
Randy Moore, the attorney who has been representing Garcia in two workplace discipline cases — one unrelated to Johnson's death— referred KERA to another attorney working on Garcia's criminal case.
"I'm not sure what I could say anyway other than why would anybody be a police officer after this," Moore wrote in a text message. "It's very disappointing how politics seems to control the justice system."
Washington said he hopes the indictments result in convictions for Moreno and Garcia and change at the Tarrant County Jail.
More than 60 people have died in Tarrant County custody since Waybourn took office in 2017, six of them this year. Deaths and allegations of abuse and neglect have cost the county $2.8 million in lawsuit settlements.
"We are hoping that this one case is going to be the catalyst to opening up everything else that has already happened in that facility," Washington said. "Too many families are dealing with grief because of the unknown."
Some people have called for Waybourn to step down following Johnson's death, including Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons.
In a statement Friday, she said the actions by jail staff "resulted from a mix of a toxic jail command climate, poor training, a lack of transparency on practices, and a demoralized prison detention force."
"Ultimately, one man is responsible for those conditions which led to Anthony and so many others not being with us today," Simmons said. "That man is Bill Waybourn."
Waybourn, a Republican, is running for reelection in November.
Johnson was a Marine veteran who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to his family. His mother, Jacqualyne Johnson, says a mental health facility turned Johnson away right before he was arrested.
This story has been updated with comments from Daryl Washington, Sheriff Bill Waybourn, Randy Moore and County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, as well as background information about the Johnson case and deaths in the Tarrant County Jail.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
