‘He’s going to become a hero.’ Family and friends remember man who died in Tarrant jail

Read the latest in our coverage of the death of Anthony Johnson Jr. and other issues in Tarrant County jail.

Anthony Johnson Jr. was not someone who died in jail on Friday morning, when his family and friends gathered in Mansfield to honor his life and service to his country. He was a loving son, a caring brother, a serious but playful friend. They mourned their loss in tearful song and fond remembrances.

Johnson died after an altercation with Tarrant County jailers on April 21. The medical examiner has yet to release an official cause of death and an investigation by the Texas Rangers is ongoing.

His mother, Jacqualyne Johnson, announced at a press conference on May 21 that his memorial service would be open to the public. Held at the Mansfield Funeral Home, it began at 10 a.m. with an open casket viewing, which was followed by a funeral service.

No scale exists by which we measure and compare the depth of our grieving, but the pain at having witnessed Johnson’s final moments was evident in the faces and cries of his family members who have seen the full video of the altercation.

“Anthony, why are you here?” asked his sister Janell Johnson during the open casket viewing.

His mother and sisters have described the unreleased footage of the altercation “a nightmare.”

The Sheriff’s Office released an edited version of the video on May 16. That video is about five and a half minutes long. His family has said that the full video is between 14 and 15 minutes.

Johnson, 31, was arrested on April 19 while in the throes of a mental health crisis. He suffered from schizophrenia.

During the service, Janell Johnson, 32, said she always admired her little brother’s handwriting and showed a letter he wrote to her son Corbin Ray Johnson on his 6th birthday.

“He always gave me the strength and confidence to parent my son the way I need to,” she said after reading his letter to a crowd of around 60 who came to honor his life.

Vietnam veteran Madison Hogan III did not know Johnson, but came to speak after hearing that he had also served in the Marines.

“When I heard that Anthony was a Marine and served his country and came home and got killed by his country, that hurt,” Hogan said. “To all the family, the Johnsons, I send my condolences, because that could have been me.”

Johnson family attorney Daryl Washington expressed his support and called for accountability in the case of his death.

“Anthony took an oath to serve and protect and he held his end of the bargain,” Washington said. “Those guys at the Tarrant County jail also took an oath to serve and protect. They didn’t hold their end of the bargain. Anthony did not have to die. He did not deserve what he got.”

He said he spoke for the Johnson family when he thanked Tarrant County Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons — who attended Friday’s funeral but declined to comment — for her support of families like the Johnsons.

“I was just doing a little research, and I looked back to some prior meetings,” Washington said. “And I just said you know if only they had listened to our commissioner, A.J. would be here with us today.” Johnson’s close family and friends referred to him by his initials A.J.

At a press conference last week, Simmons expressed support for activists’ calls for Sheriff Bill Waybourn’s resignation.

Family friend and Air Force veteran Lyndon Moton described Johnson as “bold” and told an anecdote of a conversation they once had in which he asked Johnson who his hero was.

“He was like, ‘You know who my hero is. My dad,’” Moton said. “That’s why he joined the Marines, because his dad was a Marine. And we’re not going to let it be in vain. He fought to be a hero, and through this misfortune, he’s going to become a hero.”

This and other statements that Johnson’s death be used to prompt change and accountability evoked strong reactions of support from the mourners.

“We’ve got to make a difference,” Moton said. “He’s one of many, and if it takes him to make that difference, to become the hero, let’s make it happen.”

Johnson’s younger sister Chanell, 29, made a call for better treatment of people suffering mental health crises.

“Like most of us, you wake up every day and you can control what you do, you can control your mind, you can control how you act, right?” she said. “Unfortunately, my brother didn’t have that choice.”

Johnson’s mother and father did not speak at the funeral service.

Johnson’s aunt Helen Johnson came from New Jersey to attend the funeral and said that she was able to forgive the jailers involved in the altercation that ended in Johnson’s death.

Johnson’s older half brother Craig Jennings, however, said he was not yet able to do that.

Speaking with reporters after the service, he said he did not know what it would ultimately take to be able to do so, but said “accountability is where it’s going to start.”

“I think accountability has to be first and foremost,” he said. “Nothing that we’re doing today means anything without that.”

Jennings also called out the reinstatement of the two jailers who were fired in connection with his brother’s death.

“I think that’s ridiculous, highly irresponsible,” he said. “It just goes to show that it’s broken, right? Because it’s kind of odd to fire someone and then reinstate them. That’s just bizarre.”

The two were reinstated and placed on administrative leave because the Sheriff’s Office didn’t follow protocols. Their attorneys expect them to be fired again.

Activists with the advocacy group United My Justice told the Star-Telegram that they have applied for permits to hold a protest on Thursday, May 30. They plan to walk from city hall to the Tarrant County jail.

When asked if the Johnson family plans to participate in the protest, Washington said they are “taking it one day at a time” and added that they are grateful for the support they have received from such groups.

“To all the activists who have been fighting — not only since Anthony’s death, but been fighting for years — that the family fully supports them,” he said. “Because we know that they are on the ground, and without the activist, this type of attention, we wouldn’t know about the deaths that’s going on.”