Two Texas prison guards are indicted by a county grand jury in the suffocation death of an inmate

Two prison guards have been charged with murder for choking to death an inmate in Texas.

Tuesday’s indictment accuses 48-year-old Joel Garcia and 37-year-old Rafael Moreno Jr. of killing 31-year-old former Marine Anthony Johnson Jr. in April at the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth.

Attorneys for Garcia and Moreno did not immediately respond to calls and text messages seeking comment Friday.

Randy Moore, a lawyer for Garcia, had previously stated that Garcia’s role in the altercation was limited and that the use of force was necessary.

“The wheels of justice continue to turn in this case,” Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in a statement. “I have said from the beginning that we will hold anyone responsible for Mr. Johnson’s death accountable, and we are doing so.”

Waybourn, who testified that Moreno improperly placed his knee on Johnson’s back after he was handcuffed and that Garcia was the supervisor, initially fired the two. However, both were reinstated and given paid leave because the sheriff’s office said the firings did not follow official protocol.

The force used in Johnson’s death was aimed at stopping and subduing people without killing them. However, following the death of George Floyd in 2020, this approach has come under increasing criticism.

Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer held him facedown on the ground with a knee on his neck for nine minutes, an incident that sparked outrage across the country.

The family of Johnson, who was arrested two days before his death for allegedly threatening the driver of a car with a knife, has called for a federal investigation into the prison. The family told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Johnson was suffering from a mental health crisis.

On Friday, four Missouri prison guards were charged with murder and a fifth with aiding and abetting involuntary manslaughter in the December death of a black man who was pepper-sprayed, had his face covered with a mask and was placed in a position where he was at risk of suffocation.