Another man has died while in Tarrant County Jail custody, marking one of several jail deaths this year.<\/p>\n
Jose Orozco, 37, was pronounced dead at John Peter Smith Hospital Tuesday at 12:11 p.m., according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website.<\/p>\n
Court records show Orozco was arrested and booked into Tarrant County Jail early Monday morning on a burglary of a building charge.<\/p>\n
KERA News reached out to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office and will update this story with any response.<\/p>\n
Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons said in a statement she was deeply concerned over Orozco’s death \u2014 and that it cannot be treated as “merely another notification or statistic.”<\/p>\n
“We must never allow these deaths to become routine, not in our language, not in our response, and not in our expectations,” Simmons said. “Every person in county custody is a human being whose life has value, and every death demands serious scrutiny, transparency and accountability.”<\/p>\n
Simmons said the Haltom City Police Department will be conducting its own investigation.<\/p>\n
There’s been at least five other in-custody deaths this year.<\/a><\/p>\n A sixth man died in June<\/a> after he was transported to JPS Hospital, but his death is not considered an in-custody death after he was released from custody less than 30 minutes before he was pronounced dead, according to court records and medical examiner records.<\/p>\n There’s been more than 80 jail deaths since 2017 when Sheriff Bill Waybourn took office.<\/p>\n The county jail and sheriff’s office have faced increased scrutiny over jail deaths this year, demanding more accountability<\/a> and details surrounding other deaths this year.<\/p>\n