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 earlier.

Rachel Royster

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The death of Tarrant County Jail inmate Mack Greer sparked calls for an investigation from the family and Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons. Sheriff Bill Waybourn has pushed back on the commissioner’s statements at a press conference.

Here are key takeaways:

Mack Greer, 49, became the third jail inmate to die in four days when he was pronounced dead at John Peter Smith Hospital, with his family and Commissioner Alisa Simmons calling for an outside investigation at a June 19 news conference, as three deaths in four days drew family demands for answers.The other two men who died that week were James Kent Johnson, 40, arrested on a charge of violating a bond or protective order, and Carl Avery McCray, 40, arrested on a marijuana possession charge, both pronounced dead at JPS Hospital after medical emergencies at the jail.A coalition of Democratic advocacy groups organized an 8 a.m. rally and march on Bastille Day at the Tarrant County Corrections Center, timed to the Commissioners Court meeting following four jail-related deaths.The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Greer’s manner of death natural, caused by moyamoya disease, a rare condition that narrows or closes the carotid artery inside the skull.Sheriff Bill Waybourn called Simmons “so irresponsible” for holding a press conference with unverified information and disputed her statement that Greer “suffered fatal head injuries,” after independent investigators found no wrongdoing by the jail.Simmons, the Democratic nominee for Tarrant County judge on the Nov. 3 ballot, defended her work with grieving families and pledged to investigate jail deaths if elected, citing her 21 years in public safety.Waybourn and Simmons disagree on the number of in-custody deaths at the Tarrant County Jail this year, with the sheriff counting seven and the commissioner counting eight.

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