Tarrant County Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons held a press conference outside the John Peter Smith Hospital on June 19, 2026 calling for an outside investigation of county jail inmate Mack Greer’s death, which had happened about 24 hours prior.
Rachel Royster
rroyster@star-telegram.com
Now that independent investigators found no wrongdoing on the part of the Tarrant County Jail for inmate Mack Greer’s in-custody death, Sheriff Bill Waybourn is calling out Democrat Commissioner Alisa Simmons for spreading false information about the circumstances.
Greer, 49, was pronounced dead at 2:42 p.m. on June 17 in John Peter Smith Hospital. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner ruled the death was of complications from a rare brain disease called moyamoya disease. The condition causes the carotid artery inside the skull to narrow or close, depriving the brain of oxygen.
Within 24 hours of the death, Simmons held a press conference with the family to demand an outside investigation. Greer’s was the third death in a one-week period.
Before he died, Simmons said she saw him in the hospital with a “misshapen head” and bruises in multiple places. She told the media the day after he died that “he suffered fatal head injuries,” which Waybourn said was incorrect.
In an interview with the Star-Telegram Tuesday, Waybourn said the sheriff’s office and the commissioner’s office had had “absolutely zero contact.”
Waybourn said Simmons “was so irresponsible” for having a press conference announcing unverified information.
Simmons did not respond to an interview request from the Star-Telegram, but explained at a press conference later on Tuesday to Waybourn’s statement that she’d lied by saying families whose loved ones die in the jail reach out to her because the sheriff’s office is so unresponsive.
“I work with them to try and get them the answers that they need about their loved one’s death,” Simmons said. “That really is the job of the sheriff’s office, where that person lost their lives. That’s really the job of the county hospital and MHMR, who had the responsibility of taking care of them medically and behaviorally while they were in custody.”
Simmons, the Democratic nominee for Tarrant County judge on the Nov. 3 ballot, said there have been way too many deaths in the county jail, and she plans to investigate if elected.
“I am not going to leave families out here with unanswered questions and without access to the elected officials they put in these seats,” she said.
If Simmons is elected to the county judge seat, Waybourn said he would be concerned about the relationship between the commissioners court and his office. He said he’d navigate it “with a lot of prayer.”
“The biggest concern is she’s voted against law enforcement just about at every turn,” he said. “You know, she voted against us having bulletproof vests. She’s voted against armor. She voted against a police academy. Even though people say you always need more training. I’m not going to give you an academy. She voted against that.”
Simmons negated being anti-law enforcement at the press conference Tuesday, citing her 21 years in public safety before becoming the Precinct 2 commissioner.
“I’ve worked in 911 from a call taker to an administrator for 21 years,” Simmons said. “So that is my response to that.”
The two disagree on how many deaths have happened in custody of the Tarrant County Jail this year. Waybourn says 7, while Simmons says 8.
This story was originally published October 20, 2026 at 9:54 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Rachel Royster is a news and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, specifically focused on Tarrant County. She joined the newsroom after interning at the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Capital Community News in DC. A Houston native and Baylor grad, Rachel enjoys traveling, reading and being outside. She welcomes any and all news tips to her email.