Texas prison guards post bail after being charged with murder in inmate’s death – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Two Tarrant County jail guards who were charged with murder last week for their role in the death of inmate Anthony Johnson Jr. are free after posting bail.

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office announced in a statement Friday morning that jail guards Rafael Moreno, 37, and Lt. Joel Garcia, 48, were each indicted on murder charges by a grand jury on Tuesday.

Garcia turned himself in to the Parker County Sheriff’s Office on Friday and Moreno turned himself in to the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday. Both jail officials posted bail and were released.

Daryl Washington, an attorney representing Johnson’s family, said they planned to hold a news conference at noon Tuesday.

Johnson, whose death was ruled a homicide by the county medical examiner, died in a fight at the Tarrant County Jail in April. The sheriff’s office initially said Johnson died after a medical emergency when he refused to leave his jail cell during a security check.

In May, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn fired Moreno and Garcia following an internal investigation into Johnson’s death. Waybourn said during a news conference this month that Moreno was fired for using a technique not approved by the sheriff’s department. Garcia, Waybourn said, was fired for allowing the use of the technique and for failing to respond to the urgency of the situation.

A video released by Waybourn showed a prison guard kneeling on Johnson as he said he couldn’t breathe.

Waybourn said he was forced by civil service rules to rehire the prison guards three days after they were released.

The Texas Rangers, a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety, are independently investigating Johnson’s death.

“As promised, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Ranger Division, conducted a thorough, impartial and meticulous investigation into the death of Anthony Johnson. We have submitted the results of that investigation to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, which resulted in the murder charge. We know this has been a painful and at times lengthy process for Anthony Johnson’s family, but now this case is moving to the next phase of the legal process,” said Jeremy Sherrod, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The sheriff’s office said the case would be forwarded to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.