FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF News ) – Two corrections officers connected to the death of 31-year-old Marine Veteran and inmate Anthony Johnson Junior in the Tarrant County Jail were booked into jails over the weekend and released on bond.
Rafael Moreno is accused of kneeling on Johnson’s back, causing Johnson’s death by asphyxiation. Court records show he surrendered to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday and was released a $125,000 bond.
Lt. Joel Garcia, a Tarrant County Jail supervisor, recorded cellphone video of the altercation that led to Johnson’s April 21 death. He turned himself into the the Parker County Sheriff’s Office on Friday and was released on a $125,000 bond.
Moreno and Garcia had been fired after Johnson’s death but were reinstated days later due to protocol issues and placed on administrative leave amid the investigation.
A Tarrant County grand jury indicted the two last week.
The development came a few weeks after the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Johnson’s death a homicide, citing mechanical and chemical asphyxia as his cause of death.
Johnson family attorney Daryl Washington said the full video of the altercation that led to Johnson’s death demonstrates massive errors from the jailers to the medical staff.
“I think when the public finally gets to see the remaining eight to nine minutes of the video that was released, I think everyone will finally understand just how bad the situation was,” he said.
The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office released a portion of the video but calls have been growing for the remainder to be shown to the public. Johnson could be heard saying “I can’t breathe,” in the video.
Washington said he believed more charges could be filed given video shows several other jailers failed to intervene.
The Texas Rangers investigated Johnson’s death and turned the case over the to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
Amid the scrutiny over this case, activists have shined a light on the number of deaths at the jail and have accused to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department of not being transparent.
There have been more than 60 in-custody deaths since 2017, a number that sits above the national average. Last month, Chief Charles Echert, head of the jail, retired.
In addition to the indictments, there’s a push to get Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn to resign.
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