FORT WORTH, Texas — The mother of 21-year-old Kaiyere Campbell says he is in the Tarrant County Jail on suicide watch. But, because of his mental illness she fears for his life.
Shantel Taylor says she is constantly worried sick about her son surviving his stay in jail. His health challenges started at a very early age.
"Kaiyere was diagnosed with an IDD and high functioning autism at the age of 2," she said.
Taylor said her son is mentally ill, needs help, and what she saw during jail visits was disturbing.
"Just in his cell urinating, defecating in there, food all over the place," she said. "He is naked in there."
Fort Worth police arrested Kaiyere Campbell on Dec. 11 last year after police say he attacked an elderly group home worker. Court documents show a Tarrant County judge declared Campbell incompetent to stand trial and ordered him transferred to a state mental health facility.
But the wait time for a state hospital bed is anywhere from 200 days to almost a year-and-a-half, according to State Health and Human Services. The documents also contain handwritten notes showing Campbell stopped taking his medication and has refused to eat.
His mother said she is concerned about his drastic weight loss and the impact that it could have on his body.
"I'm afraid that I'm going to lose him," Taylor said. "So that's why I'm taking the detrimental steps that I need."
WFAA reached out to the Tarrant County Jail, but has not heard back. Campbell's case has the attention of Pamela Young's organization called "United Fort Worth."
"United Fort Worth is a grassroots organization," said Young, "We're community organizers, and we organize around criminal justice, immigration, justice and civic empowerment in black and brown communities in Fort Worth and Tarrant County."
United Fort Worth is also focused on helping people in jail who suffer from mental health issues by assisting their families with resources and services. Young said she believes Kaiyere's case mirrors some of the 64 Tarrant County Jail deaths over the past few years.
"If you can, take your loved one directly to the hospital yourself, go through a probate court and have them involuntarily committed through the civil process, not a criminal process, so that they can get the proper level of care that they need," Young said, "Kaiyere will never be deemed competent to stand trial because he has an intellectual developmental disability."
Young and Campbell's mother both say they hope to convince Tarrant County officials to drop his criminal charges and expedite his transfer out of Tarrant County Jail to a facility with adequate care for his illness.