FORT WORTH, Texas — A 23-year-old man died in custody at the Tarrant County jail on Wednesday, but few details have been released and the man's family is demanding answers from authorities.
Trelynn Wormley was found unresponsive in his cell at 3:11 p.m. Wednesday, according to a news release from the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
Other inmates had notified jail officers about Wormley, who then "began receiving medical attention within seconds from JPS Medical Staff" who work at the jail, the release said.
Wormley was taken to the JPS Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Officials said Wormley was booked into the jail on Jan. 25 on charges of aggravated robbery, unlawful carrying of a weapon, and theft. He also faced charges of failure to identify by giving false information, fraudulent use of identification information and harassment of a public servant.
More information about Wormley's death was not released by the sheriff's office.
His mother, Cassandra Johnson, held a news conference outside of the jail on Friday and demanded more information about how her son died.
"I was justice for my son," Johnson said.
Johnson said she was not notified of her son's death from the sheriff's office; instead, she found out in a call from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office.
Johnson said her son suffered from a brain injury after getting shot in the head two years ago. So when Wormley was arrested in January, she asked that he be moved to a medical pod.
Johnson also said she tried to voice her concerns about his care at the jail. On Tuesday, she said, she spoke to her son on the phone, describing him as "happy go lucky, yet in pain."
"I want [the jail] to know why they didn't hear my voice?" Johnson said. "Why did my son die in Tarrant County?"
Officials said multiple agencies are investigating the death, including the sheriff's office, Fort Worth police, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office, hospital staff and the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.
The Tarrant County Jail has been accused in recent months of its handling of inmates.
In April, a woman with severe intellectual disabilities was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator after a 10-day stay at the jail, her family told WFAA.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Kelly Masten was booked at the county jail on an assault charge from April 12 to April 21 and that officials are investigating what happened during her time there.
The Masten incident came on the heels of other scrutiny facing the jail over inmate safety issues.
In three years from 2016 through 2018, the Tarrant County jail recorded three in-custody deaths. From 2019 through 2021, though, the jail recorded 36 deaths, according to data from an open records request.
"We demand justices... and sick and tired of them dying in Tarrant County," said advocate Donnell Ballard.