Crime
Grand jury indicts two Texas prison guards for strangulation death of inmate
Two prison guards have been charged with murder in reference to the strangulation death of an inmate in Texas.
Tuesday’s indictments charge Joel Garcia, 48, and Rafael Moreno Jr., 37, within the April death of 31-year-old former Marine Anthony Johnson Jr. on the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth.
Attorneys for Garcia and Moreno didn’t immediately reply to phone calls and text messages in search of comment Friday.
Randy Moore, Garcia’s attorney, has previously said that Garcia’s role within the fight was limited and that the use of force was mandatory.
“The wheels of justice continue to turn in this case,” Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in a press release. “I have said from the beginning that we will hold accountable anyone responsible for Mr. Johnson’s death, and that is exactly what we are doing.”
Waybourn, who said Moreno wrongly put his knee on Johnson’s back after Johnson was handcuffed and Garcia was his supervisor, initially fired each employees, but they were reinstated and placed on paid leave since the sheriff’s office said the firings didn’t follow official protocol.
The force used to kill Johnson was intended to detain and subdue people without killing them, but that method has come under increasing criticism following the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him face down for nine minutes and pressed his knee into his neck, an incident that sparked outrage across the country.
The family of Johnson, who was arrested two days before his death for allegedly using a knife to threaten the driving force of a vehicle, has requested a federal investigation into the prison. The family said Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Johnson was affected by a mental health crisis.
Four Missouri prison guards were charged Friday with murder and a fifth with manslaughter within the December indictment that accused a black man of being pepper-sprayed, masked and placed ready that caused him to suffocate.