Expert hired by Tarrant County to review jail death said he never received materials
A forensic pathologist who was hired by Tarrant County to review an autopsy of a man who died in the Tarrant County jail under suspicious circumstances said that the review never happened, according to a report from KERA News.
The expert told KERA the county never sent him any materials to review.
Robert G. Miller died in 2019 after being pepper-sprayed multiple times at close range during his booking in the jail. Miller, who had asthma, was not given medical attention after he told a nurse he could not breathe.
Miller was found unconscious and face-down in his cell 38 minutes later. He died the next morning at JPS Hospital with inflamed lungs, a swollen neck and blood leaking from his ears and nose, according to medical records obtained by the Star-Telegram.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office declared Miller died due to sickle cell disease. However, an investigation done by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has uncovered evidence that suggests Miller may have died as a consequence to how he was treated in the jail, where at least 45 other people have died since 2019.
The investigation by the Star-Telegram determined Miller never had sickle cell disease.
In December, the investigation prompted county officials to hire an independent forensic pathologist from Illinois, Dr. J. Scott Denton, to review Miller’s autopsy. The contract with Denton expired in February and the county did not release results.
KERA said it sent an email to Denton on Thursday asking if the review ever happened. Denton responded Saturday, saying no.
“There is no review report. There was no review. The contract expired and no materials were ever sent to me,” Denton wrote to KERA.
County officials have stayed silent on the review.
The Star-Telegram has requested documents related to the review through the Public Information Act. The Criminal District Attorney’s Office asked the Texas attorney general for a opinion on whether it could withhold records. Then county officials came back and said no records existed and pulled their request with the attorney general.
