FORT WORTH, Texas — Friends and family said goodbye to 31-year-old Anthony Johnson at a memorial service on Friday while simultaneously advocating for more robust accountability in the Tarrant County Jail -- the place where Johnson took his last breaths.
"I think accountability has to be first and foremost--nothing we're doing today means anything without that," Johnson's half-brother Craig Jennings said outside the service. "I asked the sheriff multiple times, 'How is it possible an inmate can be killed in jail while apprehended?' His hands weren't even free."
"This isn't fair--it's a nightmare that I'll never be able to escape."
Jennings believes that his brother should still be alive, and Sheriff Bill Waybourn, who oversees the jail, told WFAA on the same day of Johnson's funeral that he wholeheartedly agrees.
Waybourn sat down with WFAA for the first time since the disturbing video of Johnson's in-custody death was released to the public.
He admitted that he had spoken with Johnson's family and felt responsible for what happened when doing so.
"They were grieving, and I know that they were angry. I represent the sheriff's office, so I was at that point of anger--and I understand that," Waybourn told WFAA.
"I know they must go through that, and my heart breaks for them."
Johnson died on April 21st after getting into an altercation with jailers during a routine cell check. Video shows that altercation unfolding and then jailers apprehending Johnson, a former Marine battling schizophrenia. At one point, jailer Rafael Moreno can be seen kneeling on Johnson's back for more than a minute while he exclaims that he can't breathe.
Attempts to bring Johnson back to life at the jail were unsuccessful.
When the video was released to the public, Moreno was fired. His supervisor, Lt. Joe Garcia, was fired, too, for allowing the kneeling technique to be used.
Waybourn told WFAA Friday that kneeling on an inmate's back is authorized, but only to get an inmate under control and subdued. The sheriff said it's not allowed if an inmate is handcuffed or has been maced--which Waybourn said had happened.
"It is authorized for officers to put knees in backs when they're going to restrain somebody, but once they get the handcuffs on--they get off the back. In this case--not only was the knee in the back but Johnson had been pepper-sprayed. You have to move an inmate into a recovery position once that happens. Usually, you have them sitting up on their side or standing, and none of that was done in this case."
The sheriff said this week that all jailers receive crisis intervention training or CIT, which has to do with de-escalation, suicide prevention, and dealing with inmates facing mental health issues. He added Friday that they also receive de-escalation training under use-of-force training and defensive tactics.
The sheriff said more training should be observed, and he tries to cycle as many staff members back to the academy as possible when they get a chance. He said sometimes the time between additional training and academy graduation fluctuates — that it can be years or months for some.
"They use these skills every day, I will say. It's practiced every day. It's coached," Waybourn said.
However, Waybourn faces criticism from Johnson's family and Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons after Moreno and Garcia were reinstated this week and placed on administrative leave after being fired.
Waybourn admitted to WFAA that he made an honest technical mistake and fired the two without thorough due process.
He said he was told that he may be required to withdraw the terminations due to civil service guidelines and that additional steps were needed "to appropriately complete the process under the rules of Civil Service."
Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, a vocal critic of the sheriff, said in a statement that the botched firings were consistent with the sheriff's "inability to administer and follow standard operating procedures of his own Sheriff's Office along with basic processes and procedures outlined in civil service rules."
"As a result of the Sheriff's actions, the county now has to continue employing – and paying – two individuals who really should be facing criminal charges from the missing-in-action Tarrant County DA," Simmons said, "and not still drawing a paycheck from county taxpayers."
Waybourn still feels that both jailers didn't follow protocols and that their firings will be upheld.
"They didn't do the right thing," Waybourn said. "These officers knew their training when this happened, and they chose not to do what I think was right."
Attorneys for the jailers have called the terminations premature, saying a finished autopsy for Johnson hasn't been returned with a clear cause of death. The Texas Rangers are investigating to determine if criminal charges should be filed.
Waybourn is also facing calls to resign from both critics and activists. More than 60 people have died at the Tarrant County jail since Waybourn took office in 2017. About half of those inmates died from natural causes, the sheriff's office said. Inmate deaths in Tarrant County have exceeded the national average in each of the last four years, according to National Institutes of Health data.
Waybourn, however, contends that the jail has passed state inspections and sees roughly 50,000 people booked in and out annually.
He also added that staff prevented 279 suicides last year. Still, WFAA candidly asked the sheriff if the phrase, regarding the jail, 'don't do the crime if you don't want to die' was an overreaction.
"Absolutely. That is an overreaction," Waybourn said.
"If the Department of Justice--or anyone else--wants to come and take a tour and see how we're doing things...come on down."