Jo Ann Lemmons was booked into Tarrant County Correction Center Jail on June 24, 2023. On June 26, 2023, she experienced a medical emergency in her Fort Worth, Texas, cell (62-A-23-01). A detention officer was conducting face-to-face observations when he noticed this.

23 Texas Inmates Have Died of Unknown Causes Since the June 2023 Heat Wave Continued

Initially, there was a report of nine prisoners who died in the June heatwave. Another 14 died at the time of the article’s publication, and many of the inmates died of unknown causes in extreme temperatures. Many of them were found unresponsive in their cells.

The summer heat is responsible for many deaths outside of the jail system, as well. According to the Webb County medical examiner, in less than two weeks, 11 deaths related to the heat have occurred in the county. The deceased were from 60 to 80 years old. The coroner spoke at a recent commissioners’ court meeting and said that the deaths are happening because of the combination of unprecedented heat and a dome of high pressure.

Sadly, a man and his teenage son died from the heat when they were on a hike at the Big Bend National Park.

This is the kind of heat that two-thirds of Texas inmates are trying to survive without air conditioning.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this ongoing series.

One of the purposes of this website is to provide resources is to help Texas inmates who have been incarcerated in local county and municipal jails in the state. There is never an intention of implicating an individual or institution in connection with misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor