FORT WORTH, Texas — A 68-year-old inmate being held at the Tarrant County Jail died on Friday, the sheriff's office said in a news release.
The department said Mclendon Caldwell had a history of medical issues and died at the John Peter Smith Hospital (JPS). Caldwell had been taken to JPS on multiple occasions for ongoing medical issues since he was booked into jail in February 2024, deputies said.
His cause of death will be released by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.
According to the release, Caldwell was facing a charge of harassment of a public servant.
There have been four in-custody deaths reported at the Tarrant County Jail in recent weeks, one of which was reported on May 27, and more than 60 people have died at the Tarrant County jail since 2017. About half of those inmates died from natural causes, the sheriff’s office told WFAA back in May.
Activists have recently called for Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn to step down amid concerns about the management of the jail.
Tarrant County has spent more than $2 million settling lawsuits related to deaths at the jail in the past year.
The death will be reviewed by the jail staff, the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, JPS medical staff, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, the Texas Attorney General's Office and an outside law enforcement agency, officials said.
