Tarrant County looks to Illinois forensic pathologist for review of jail death autopsy
Tarrant County commissioners will consider a contract with an independent forensic pathologist from Illinois to review the autopsy of Robert Miller, who died in 2019 after being pepper-sprayed multiple times during intake at the county jail.
A Tarrant County autopsy blamed Miller’s death on natural causes from a sickle cell crisis. But a Star-Telegram investigation published in October found evidence that Miller, 38, almost certainly didn’t have sickle cell disease. Medical records and other investigative documents obtained by the Star-Telegram and reviewed by outside experts suggest Miller’s death was more likely the result of his treatment in jail.
Tarrant County commissioners will consider Tuesday a contract with Dr. J. Scott Denton of Bloomington, Illinois, to provide “consulting services including review of select cases under the jurisdiction of the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.”
Denton has previously been contracted by the FBI and other agencies to revisit cold cases and autopsies where questions were raised about the findings. He would be allowed to consult with outside professionals as part of his review of the Miller case.
The contract says Denton will be paid $5,000 for each case he reviews, up to $10,000. The contract would expire Feb. 28.
After the Star-Telegram published its investigation in October, county leaders initially said Tarrant’s new chief medical examiner would revisit the case. They later decided to seek an outside pathologist to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
About two dozen clergy members have urged the county to seek a U.S. Department of Justice probe. Commissioner Roy Brooks has said the county would first pursue the independent review of the autopsy report, then decide “the next courses of action.”
Miller was homeless and suffered from mental illness. Fort Worth police officers arrested him on old misdemeanor warrants after someone had complained about his panhandling. Once at the jail, sheriff’s officers pepper-sprayed him at least three times at close range during booking. He complained to a nurse that he couldn’t breathe. Jailers found him 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 records obtained by the Star-Telegram.
Dr. Richard Fries, a forensic pathologist, conducted Miller’s autopsy at the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. His finding of natural causes from a medical condition prompted Texas Ranger Trace McDonald to close his investigation into Miller’s death.
Denton formerly was an assistant medical examiner in Cook County, home to Chicago, and served as interim chief there. He has served as a pathologist for the Southern Illinois Child Death Investigation Task Force, which responds to calls in dozens of Illinois counties.
In 2017, the FBI contracted with Denton to reexamine the autopsy and other evidence in the mysterious 2015 death of Chicago Police Sgt. Donald Markham, found dead in bed with what Cook County medical examiners deemed a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Denton concluded that Markham likely was murdered and that the scene in his bedroom appeared to have been staged. Markham’s wife, also a police officer, was found drowned in a bathtub in 2017.
The case was eventually closed with no charges filed.
