Tarrant County Jail sees 3 deaths in 4 days. Families demand answers, investigation

Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Jun 19, 2026

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FORT WORTH, Texas — The 78th Tarrant County Jail inmate since Sheriff Bill Waybourn was elected in 2017 died on Thursday. The death is the 79th if you count the baby who was born in a jail cell and died 10 days later.

Mack Greer’s death was the third this week.

Greer, 49, was pronounced dead Thursday at John Peter Smith Hospital, but his body is being kept viable for organ donation, his mother Leatta Hurd said at a news conference Friday afternoon. He was taken into custody on a theft charge on May 29, 2026. The sheriff’s office said in a statement that Greer is still alive.

The first death this week was 40-year-old James Kent Johnson. After being taken into custody Sunday, he had a medical emergency at the jail on Monday and was later pronounced dead at JPS Hospital. He had been arrested on a charge of violating a bond or protective order.

The second, Carl Avery McCray, 40, died at JPS Hospital on Tuesday after the sheriff’s office said he was found experiencing a medical emergency. McCray had been arrested on a charge of marijuana possession.

Greer’s family was notified that he was being transported to the hospital on Wednesday, but the family said they weren’t allowed to see him until the sheriff’s office released him on a personal recognizance bond.

“A judge granted a compassionate release from jail,” said Robbie Hoy, a spokesperson for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. “This is not an uncommon practice when an inmate is in failing health and no longer a threat to the community. This allows them to be with family during their final days.”

The family was told the usual investigations would not be done because Greer was not in custody when he was pronounced dead. Greer was already brain-dead when he arrived at JPS Hospital, Greer’s father Joseph Hurd said. Simmons called this a work-around for the sheriff to not have to take responsibility for the death.

Leatta Hurd said shortly before jailers found her son slumped over in his cell, he had been asking for a blanket. Greer had a “misshapen head” and bruises in multiple places from a fatal head injury when she saw him Wednesday, Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons said.

Officers tried to convince Greer’s parents he killed himself or had a brain bleed, the family said.

“I don’t have an MD, but I’ve worked with MHMR, and nobody that hits their head hits it in multiple places,” Leatta Hurd said. “They might hit it in one place, but they don’t have it multiple places. So, none of the things they’re trying to tell me to shut me up is adding up.”

At the Friday afternoon news conference, Simmons and Greer’s parents called for an outside party to investigate Greer’s death and the Tarrant County Jail.

“If Tarrant County is serious about public safety, then public safety must include people locked inside our jail,” Simmons said. “Today I’m calling for a full independent investigation into what happened to Mr. Mack Greer. Not an internal review, not a technical explanation, not a paperwork maneuver. A real investigation.”

Leatta Hurd said as long as there is breath in her body, she will demand answers from the sheriff’s office and Tarrant County.

“Everybody’s saying you might make yourself sick. No, I’m gonna stay strong because of my child, because he can’t speak no more,” Leatta Hurd said. “I’m going to speak for him, and I’m going to speak loud, and I’m going to speak clear. And I don’t care who don’t like it or who has something to say. If you want to shut me up, make some changes.”

“We are aware of the allegations made by Commissioner Simmons during today's press conference and not surprisingly it contains a lot of misinformation and half-truths,” Hoy said. “This is nothing more than political grandstanding. Frankly, its terribly insensitive to hold a press conference while the man is dying.“

Less than one week before the first of the three deaths, Republican County Judge Tim O’Hare said the jail received a “glowing review” from the Texas Commissioner on Jail Standards.

“I am calling on my colleagues on the commissioners court to do what I’ve been attempting to do,” Simmons said. “Let’s, as a body, call in and ask the Justice Department to come here and investigate this jail. If there is nothing wrong, if it is a model jail, that is what the Justice Department will find.”

Hoy said the sheriff’s office remains committed to offering appropriate care and ensuring every person in our custody is treated with professionalism and dignity.

The mothers of two other men who died in 2022 and 2024 at the county jail spoke at the press conference to express their outrage that nothing had been done to stop the deaths.

“If a person enters your jail alive and leaves your custody on a ventilator or in a body bag, that responsibility belongs to this county, this sheriff,” said Jacqualyne Johnson, mother of Anthony Johnson, Jr.