![\"Leatte](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_5162.jpg\" "\\"Leatte")
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Leatte Hurd leans on her husband, Joseph Hurd, at a June 19, 2026 news conference the day after their son, Mack Greer, was pronounced brain-dead. Greer was the third Tarrant County Jail inmate to die in four days.<\/p>\n
Rachel Royster<\/p>\n
rroyster@star-telegram.com<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: This story was updated to include a statement from the Tarrant County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
The 78th Tarrant County Jail inmate since Sheriff Bill Waybourn was elected in 2017 died on Thursday. The death is the 79th if you count the baby who was born in a jail cell and died 10 days later.<\/p>\n
Mack Greer\u2019s death was the third this week.<\/p>\n
Greer, 49, was pronounced dead Thursday at John Peter Smith Hospital, but his body is being kept viable for organ donation, his mother Leatta Hurd said at a news conference Friday afternoon. He was taken into custody on a theft charge on May 29, 2026. The sheriff\u2019s office said in a statement that Greer is still alive.<\/p>\n
The first death this week was 40-year-old James Kent Johnson. After being taken into custody Sunday, he had a medical emergency at the jail on Monday and was later pronounced dead<\/a> at JPS Hospital. He had been arrested on a charge of violating a bond or protective order.<\/p>\n The second, Carl Avery McCray, 40, died at JPS Hospital on Tuesday<\/a> after the sheriff\u2019s office said he was found experiencing a medical emergency. McCray had been arrested on a charge of marijuana possession.<\/p>\n Greer\u2019s family was notified that he was being transported to the hospital on Wednesday, but the family said they weren\u2019t allowed to see him until the sheriff\u2019s office released him on a personal recognizance bond.<\/p>\n \u201cA Judge granted a compassionate release from jail,\u201d said Robbie Hoy, a spokesperson for the Tarrant County Sheriff\u2019s Office. \u201cThis is not an uncommon practice when an inmate is in failing health and no longer a threat to the community. This allows them to be with family during their final days.\u201d<\/p>\n The family was told the usual investigations would not be done because Greer was not in custody when he was pronounced dead. Greer was already brain-dead when he arrived at JPS Hospital, Greer\u2019s father Joseph Hurd said. Simmons called this a work-around for the sheriff to not have to take responsibility for the death.<\/p>\n Leatta Hurd said shortly before jailers found her son slumped over in his cell, he had been asking for a blanket. Greer had a \u201cmisshapen head\u201d and bruises in multiple places from a fatal head injury when she saw him Wednesday, Democratic County Commissioner Alisa Simmons said.<\/p>\n Officers tried to convince Greer\u2019s parents he killed himself or had a brain bleed, the family said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have an MD, but I\u2019ve worked with MHMR, and nobody that hits their head hits it in multiple places,\u201d Leatta Hurd said. \u201cThey might hit it in one place, but they don\u2019t have it multiple places. So, none of the things they\u2019re trying to tell me to shut me up is adding up.\u201d<\/p>\n At the Friday afternoon press conference, Simmons and Greer\u2019s parents called for an outside party to investigate Greer\u2019s death and the Tarrant County Jail.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Tarrant County is serious about public safety, then public safety must include people locked inside our jail,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cToday I\u2019m calling for a full independent investigation into what happened to Mr. Mack Greer. Not an internal review, not a technical explanation, not a paperwork maneuver. A real investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n Leatta Hurd said as long as there is breath in her body, she will demand answers from the sheriff\u2019s office and Tarrant County.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s saying you might make yourself sick. No, I\u2019m gonna stay strong because of my child, because he can\u2019t speak no more,\u201d Leatta Hurd said. \u201cI\u2019m going to speak for him, and I\u2019m going to speak loud, and I\u2019m going to speak clear. And I don\u2019t care who don\u2019t like it or who has something to say. If you want to shut me up, make some changes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aware of the allegations made by Commissioner Simmons during todays press conference and not surprisingly it contains a lot of misinformation and half-truths,\u201d Hoy said. \u201cThis is nothing more than political grandstanding. Frankly, its terribly insensitive to hold a press conference while the man is dying.\u201c<\/p>\n Less than one week before the first of the three deaths, Republican County Judge Tim O\u2019Hare said the jail received a \u201cglowing review\u201d<\/a> from the Texas Commissioner on Jail Standards.<\/p>\n \u201cI am calling on my colleagues on the commissioners court to do what I\u2019ve been attempting to do,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cLet\u2019s, as a body, call in and ask the Justice Department to come here and investigate this jail. If there is nothing wrong, if it is a model jail, that is what the Justice Department will find.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoy said the sheriff\u2019s office remains committed to offering appropriate care and ensuring every person in our custody is treated with professionalism and dignity.<\/p>\n The mothers of two other men who died in 2022 and 2024 at the county jail spoke at the press conference to express their outrage that nothing had been done to stop the deaths.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a person enters your jail alive and leaves your custody on a ventilator or in a body bag, that responsibility belongs to this county, this sheriff,\u201d said Jacqualyne Johnson, mother of Anthony Johnson, Jr.<\/p>\n This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 6:30 PM.<\/p>\n
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