Mental health hospital where family took man who later died in jail is JPS partner
Read the latest in our coverage of the death of Anthony Johnson Jr. and other issues in Tarrant County jail.
The hospital to which Anthony Johnson Jr.’s family took him when he began having a schizophrenic episode is a partner of John Peter Smith Hospital, the hospital told the Star-Telegram in an emailed statement.
The family told the Star-Telegram they took Johnson to WellBridge Healthcare, a Fort Worth mental health hospital, on April 19 but he was turned away. According to the family, the hospital told them Johnson could not be admitted because he was not violent toward himself or others.
WellBridge declined to comment on whether Johnson was ever a patient or on its policies for admitting patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
“Patients that require an inpatient psychiatric hospital stay can receive their care at JPS or be referred to community partners in the area, including WellBridge,” JPS executives told the Star-Telegram in an emailed statement. “Payment for any psychiatric inpatient stay is dependent upon the patient’s health coverage.”
Johnson was arrested later that day in Saginaw, according to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office. Saginaw police found him at an intersection wielding a knife, the Sheriff’s Office said.
On April 20, Johnson called his family and told them he was doing better, his mother and sisters said. But on April 21, Johnson was dead. Two deputies and a chaplain visited his mother at her home and told her he’d died, but did not share any information on how.
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The Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that Johnson was in his cell and refused to come out when detention officers began doing a routine check for contraband around 9 a.m. April 21. He was pepper-sprayed during an altercation in their attempts to remove him from the cell, then became unresponsive, the Sheriff’s Office said. He was given medical attention and taken to JPS, where he died, according to the release.
Daryl Washington, the family’s attorney, told the Star-Telegram he doesn’t believe that’s the whole story. Bruising on Johnson’s body suggests more force was used, he said.
Jacqualyne Johnson, Anthony Johnson’s mother, told the Star-Telegram she places part of the blame for her son’s death on WellBridge.
“He was mentally unstable and it didn’t start here,” Jacqualyne Johnson told Tarrant County commissioners at their meeting Tuesday, referencing the jail. “We took him to a facility and they rejected him. … Had they held him for 24 hours, 24 hours, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Johnson was also a patient of My Health My Resources of Tarrant County, his mother said. He would receive medication from MHMR, which is a local government service, and she said information about his mental illness should have been made immediately available to the jail.
MHMR told the Star-Telegram in an emailed statement that all inmates booked into the Tarrant County Jail are screened during booking to determine their need for mental health services, and there are other opportunities for inmates to get those services.
MHMR said it could not comment specifically on Johnson’s case, but did indicate that the jail should have known about his mental health needs.
Demanding release of video
Johnson’s family has been demanding release of videos that show what happened to him in the jail leading up to his death. They’ve been joined in their calls for the release by Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, Washington and members of the community who spoke at the commissioners meeting.
The Star-Telegram requested copies of any videos showing what happened. That request has been sent to the Texas Attorney General’s Office by the Sheriff’s Office, which is requesting permission to withhold the footage on the grounds of an ongoing investigation.
Thursday evening, Commissioner Manny Ramirez called for changes to county policy regarding the release of information by the Sheriff’s Office.
In a news release, he said the changes are necessary to make sure information on in-custody deaths and other major incidents is shared on a schedule that keeps the families of those impacted informed, along with the public.
