Sheriff Bill Waybourn condemned Johnson’s treatment\u00a0at a press conference<\/a>\u00a0a month after his death, where he showed reporters Garcia\u2019s cell phone video.<\/p>\n “Once he’s restrained, the knee should have never went on the back,” he said.<\/p>\n Wynn’s death five years earlier did not get the same level of public scrutiny as Johnson’s. A medical examiner blamed Wynn\u2019s death on mixed drug intoxication. It\u2019s unclear whether the doctor who performed the autopsy took the restraint into consideration.<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s office refuses to answer questions about Wynn\u2019s death. Spokesperson Laurie Passman provided a written statement that denied any wrongdoing and claimed \u201ca knee properly placed to control a combative individual” is different than kneeling on someone.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no indication noted by the investigator that the technique was done improperly, nor does the medical examiner rule that as a contributing factor in his death,\u201d Passman said.<\/p>\n The sheriff’s office\u2019s training documents, also obtained by KERA News, say new jailers should not be taught to place a knee on someone\u2019s upper back \u2014 for safety reasons.<\/p>\n Through public records requests, KERA News obtained jail security camera footage and more than 100 pages of records about Derick Wynn\u2019s incarceration and death, including written reports from approximately 30 jailers and a death investigation summary from the Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n The records reveal Wynn\u2019s nine hours in jail were punctuated with violence, including altercations with jailers who would later be connected to other in-custody deaths: Garcia and then-Sgt. Sheldon Kelsey, who knelt on his back.<\/p>\n Wynn showed signs of distress and disorientation shortly after his arrest on Apr. 3, 2019. Before being booked into jail, he spent a few hours being observed at John Peter Smith Hospital, after he appeared to be clutching his chest, according to the Texas Rangers investigation report.<\/p>\n Police transferred Wynn to jail custody in the early morning hours of Apr. 4. During a jail mental health screening, Wynn seemed confused about where he was, the report continues. He kept asking for police, “because his daughter had fallen down the stairs.\u201d When told he was in jail, he said, \u201cNo I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n Wynn denied using drugs, according to the investigation records \u2014 though the Tarrant County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office would later determine he died of mixed methamphetamine and cocaine intoxication.<\/p>\n Dr. Alon Steinberg is a cardiologist who studies why prone restraint \u2014 the law enforcement term for restraining someone face-down \u2014 can be deadly. Using meth, cocaine or other drugs heightens the danger because of the added stress it puts on the body, he said. It can make people breathe harder and require more blood circulation.<\/p>\n “Then when you combine that with prone restraint, which decreases both factors, that could be potentially very dangerous,\u201d Steinberg said.<\/p>\n Drugs can also make people struggle more against law enforcement, Steinberg said \u2014 making the likelihood of a restraint that much higher.<\/p>\n Wynn resisted jailers all day, they would later report. Around 8:30 a.m., detention officers pepper sprayed him after he grabbed onto a door handle and wouldn\u2019t let go, according to Kelsey’s written statement. One jailer sprained his wrist during the struggle, according to the investigation records.<\/p>\n One jailer pepper-sprayed Wynn in the face, but he kept resisting, Kelsey wrote. So Kelsey pepper-sprayed him in the face, too.<\/p>\n Four months later, Kelsey would pepper spray another man, Robert Miller, who died afterwards, according to\u00a0the\u00a0Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/a>.<\/p>\n The county medical examiner’s office blamed Miller’s death on a sickle cell crisis. Experts who spoke to the Star-Telegram refuted the conclusion Miller had sickle cell disease and said Miller likely died after multiple jailers pepper sprayed him at close range.<\/p>\n After that investigation, the county contracted with an outside expert to look at Miller\u2019s autopsy.\u00a0KERA News discovered<\/a>\u00a0the expert never received any materials. The county has never explained why the independent review didn’t happen.<\/p>\n Kelsey did not respond to requests for an interview for this story.<\/p>\n Wynn complained of a burning sensation for hours after his pepper spraying, accusing jailers of pouring gasoline on him, according to their reports. He was escorted to his first court appearance barefoot with his ankles restrained, his hands behind his back and his red jumpsuit drenched, jail security video shows.<\/p>\n Several jailers noted how much he was sweating, including Joel Garcia.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring arraignment Inmate Wynn was accusing me of setting him on fire while I stood behind him,\u201d Garcia wrote, adding he suspected Wynn was still suffering from the effects of the pepper spray.<\/p>\n After his court appearance, jailers brought Wynn back to his cell and laid him on the ground, with his head facing the cell door. This is a common technique used on people who are struggling against the removal of restraints, one jailer later reported. Garcia said Wynn was kicking and \u201cbeing combative.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI stepped in to assist Sgt. Garcia,\u201d Kelsey wrote. \u201cI placed my left knee in between his shoulder blades.\u201d<\/p>\n Of all the reports, only Garcia and Kelsey himself mention that Kelsey knelt on Wynn. Other jailers say Kelsey helped restrain Wynn\u2019s upper body, or they don’t mention Kelsey at all.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear how long Kelsey knelt on Wynn. Footage from a hallway camera shows Kelsey pushing past other jailers to get into the cell and kneeling down, but a jailer in front of the cell door blocks the rest of the altercation. Kelsey left the cell after about 80 seconds.<\/p>\n As they got the restraints off, Garcia noticed blood on the floor, \u201cwhich appeared to be coming from Inmate Wynn,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n After leaving the cell, the jailers realized something was wrong. Wynn made no attempt to get up. He did not respond to his name.<\/p>\n Garcia ordered another officer to open the cell door again. He shook Wynn, who lay in the fetal position breathing but unresponsive. He called a medical emergency, and jailers cuffed him again, “just in case he was to regain consciousness and began to fight,\u201d Garcia wrote.<\/p>\n Security camera footage shows jailers carrying Wynn’s limp body out into a hallway. Wynn lay motionless on the floor as someone who appeared to be medical staff gave him chest compressions. A crowd of jailers gathered around, overflowing out of a nearby doorway.<\/p>\n MedStar first responders arrived and brought Wynn to John Peter Smith Hospital, where he was placed in the ICU in \u201clife-threatening condition,\u201d according to a sergeant on duty at JPS. He would die early the next morning, on April 5.<\/p>\n Jails have to report every in-custody death to the Texas Attorney General\u2019s Office. Wynn\u2019s death report noted he resisted officers but doesn\u2019t mention the struggle in his cell.<\/p>\n “Officers were able to place Wynn in his cell and shut the cell door without a major confrontation,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n Wynn\u2019s brother, Louis Scott, shared a series of family photos over text message, which show Wynn was truly loved, he said.<\/p>\n In the photos, Wynn poses with his family and grins for the camera.\u00a0His obituary<\/a>\u00a0memorialized his huge smile and his laugh, which could \u201clight up a room.” He touched everyone\u2019s life he came across, and he was ready to help \u201cjust by the mere mention,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n Scott sent photos of Wynn\u2019s grave, too, adorned with flowers. His headstone refers to him as a beloved son and brother.<\/p>\n The dangers of restraint<\/p>\n Kelsey did not respond to requests for an interview. After KERA News contacted him via his county email, sheriff\u2019s office spokesperson Laurie Passman responded telling the reporter to direct all questions to the media relations department.<\/p>\n Garcia\u2019s attorneys also did not respond to emails, phone calls and text messages requesting an interview.<\/p>\n The Tarrant County Sheriff\u2019s Office maintains no one did anything wrong while restraining Wynn. Outside sources who say otherwise don\u2019t have the proper details or context, Passman wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe [Tarrant County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office] and the Texas Rangers are highly trained and relied upon to do thorough investigations,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is no reason to doubt their conclusion of an investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n In Texas, deaths in custody\u00a0must be investigated<\/a>\u00a0by an outside law enforcement agency \u2014 in Wynn\u2019s case, the Texas Rangers. Ranger Ike Upshaw reviewed jailers\u2019 accounts and video footage for his investigation. In his report, he notes a jailer knelt on Wynn, but he does not express concern about it.<\/p>\n Law enforcement experts who spoke to KERA News agreed it is unnecessary and dangerous to kneel on someone who is already handcuffed.<\/p>\n “I don’t know why you would need to put weight on someone’s back when you are taking them out of restraints,\u201d said Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, a use of force expert and a former police officer.<\/p>\n Gary Raney is the former sheriff of Ada County, Idaho, which includes Boise. He now works with\u00a0troubled jail systems<\/a>\u00a0to improve conditions. He said he couldn\u2019t think of a time when kneeling on someone in order to remove restraints would follow generally accepted policy and training.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they’re so violent you have to kneel on them, they probably shouldn’t be removed from restraints,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n It can also be dangerous to leave someone handcuffed, because if they fall, they can\u2019t catch themselves, Raney said. But he emphasized there are alternatives, like getting someone in a device called a restraint chair \u2014 though he acknowledged\u00a0they have their own dangers from misuse.<\/a><\/p>\n Wynn died a year before the murder of\u00a0George Floyd<\/a>\u00a0kicked off protests against racism and police brutality around the globe. Floyd, a Black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck while Floyd said over and over again, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n But law enforcement has known kneeling on someone can be deadly for decades. The U.S. Department of Justice warned about the dangers in a bulletin\u00a0back in 1995<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as the subject is handcuffed, get him off his stomach. Turn him on his side or place him in a seated position,\u201d the bulletin advised. \u201cIf he continues to struggle, do not sit on his back.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, stories of deaths after police kneel on someone have piled up. George Floyd in Minneapolis.\u00a0Angelo Quinto<\/a>\u00a0in California.\u00a0Tony Timpa<\/a>\u00a0in Dallas.<\/p>\n The Associated Press<\/a>\u00a0identified more than 1,000 people who died after police used force that isn\u2019t meant to kill. At least 740 cases involved prone restraint, and in about half of those, officers pinned the person down after they were already handcuffed, “often pressing with knees or hands when the person was controlled.”<\/p>\n Most people won’t die from being restrained prone, but it is dangerous, forensic pathologist Dr. Victor Weedn said. He studies\u00a0the effects of prone restraint<\/a>, alongside the cardiologist Steinberg.<\/p>\n Weedn reviewed Wynn\u2019s autopsy for this story. Besides noting abrasions on his back, the autopsy report gives no indication the medical examiner\u2019s office considered the restraint as a possible factor in Wynn’s death, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s not a very remarkable autopsy, but that’s what we’ve seen in these restraint deaths,\u201d Weedn said. \u201cIt\u2019s often just superficial injuries indicating the struggle, and that’s about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Medical examiners always need to take altercations with police into account, Weedn said.<\/p>\n “Typically what happens is, the person is alive, they’re in apparent good health \u2014 which may not be the best health \u2014 but they’re doing their thing, breathing their oxygen, eating their food, talking to people, you know, doing whatever,\u201d he said. \u201cThen there’s a police interaction and they’re dead. It suggests that there’s a cause and relationship here.”<\/p>\n Dr. Marc Krouse performed Wynn\u2019s autopsy and determined he died of mixed methamphetamine and cocaine intoxication. When KERA reached out to him for an interview, he responded with an email, saying the drug levels in Wynn\u2019s system “were most notable.\u201d He did not respond to questions about whether he considered the restraint or even knew about it.<\/p>\n The Star-Telegram reported<\/a>\u00a0Krouse left the Tarrant County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office in 2021 after he missed a bullet during an autopsy, kicking off an audit that found mistakes in 27 of his cases in 2020. In most instances, the mistakes did not impact the cause of death determination, according to the Star-Telegram.<\/p>\n At the time,\u00a0Krouse’s attorney said<\/a>\u00a0the audit was not independent or impartial. Krouse did not respond to KERA’s request for comment on the audit.<\/p>\n The level of methamphetamine reported in Wynn\u2019s body was not particularly high, according to Weedn, though he acknowledged even a small amount can be deadly.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m absolutely positive, absolutely positive, people have that level of methamphetamine walking around,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t be toxic.\u201d<\/p>\n Sheriff\u2019s training warns against restraint dangers<\/p>\n Although the sheriff\u2019s office says there is no evidence that Kelsey knelt on Wynn improperly, their own training warns against placing a knee on someone’s upper back.<\/p>\n KERA News submitted a public records request for Tarrant County\u2019s current jailer training curriculum as of 2024. The county then asked the Texas Attorney General\u2019s Office for permission to keep the trainings secret, because people could read them and learn how to “anticipate and exploit weaknesses in the [Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office] staff and jail operations,\u201d county attorneys argued in a letter to the AG.<\/p>\n Stoughton dismissed that argument.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the dumbest thing I\u2019ve ever heard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n There are legitimate reasons to withhold some police training information \u2014 like descriptions of undercover operations \u2014 but not physical techniques a jailer might use, Stoughton said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s this fantasy, I think, of criminals getting together and poring through the techniques and like, developing counter strategies, and that’s just not realistic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The AG\u2019s Office allowed some redactions but ordered the sheriff’s office to release the 477-page jailer lesson plan.<\/p>\n One training module on handcuffing underlines the importance of restraining someone safely.<\/p>\n \u201cInstructor needs to emphasize placing the subject in the recovery position or in a sitting position after being restrained in an attempt to prevent positional asphyxia,\u201d the training says.<\/p>\n The “recovery position”\u00a0means placing someone on their side<\/a>\u00a0in a way that keeps their airways open.<\/p>\n The training notes jailers should not be taught to put a knee on someone\u2019s shoulder. They might use a knee on someone\u2019s lower back to get them into restraints, but the person needs to be put on their side or sat up right after.<\/p>\n Kelsey, the jailer who knelt on Wynn, is still employed by the Tarrant County Sheriff\u2019s Office. After KERA News reached out to him to request an interview, the sheriff\u2019s office posted about him in\u00a0a \u201cFun Fact Friday\u201d post on Facebook<\/a>, listing his favorite Christmas movie and go-to snacks. He has been promoted to captain, helping to \u201ckeep things running smoothly behind the scenes\u201d at the main downtown jail, according to the post.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kera4-1024x768.webp.jpeg\")
Derick Wynn, left, and his brother Louis Scott smile for a selfie. Wynn was 35 years old when he died in Tarrant County Jail custody on April 5, 2019. (Courtesy \/ Louis Scott)
\nDerick Wynn\u2019s short but troubled jail stay<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kera1-1024x769.webp.jpeg\")
Tarrant County Jail security footage obtained through a public records request shows jailers escorting Derick Wynn to his first court appearance on Apr. 4, 2019. Less than an hour later, he would be unresponsive and on his way to the hospital after an altercation with jailers where one knelt on his back, according to investigation records. (Screenshot \/ Tarrant County Jail)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kera2-1024x365.webp.jpeg\")
An excerpt from then-Sgt. Sheldon Kelsey’s report about one of his altercations with Derick Wynn on April 4, 2019, where he describes kneeling on Wynn’s back. (Yfat Yossifor \/ KERA)<\/p>\n