George William Zink Dies After Incarceration in Tarrant County Jail

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, in Fort Worth, Texas, filed a report regarding yet another custodial death of a detainee in that jail. George William Zink passed away after being incarcerated in the Tarrant County jail. While the custodial death report does not mention it, it appears that Mr. Zink may have been declared incompetent to stand trial. Our jails across Texas continue to be used to house severely mentally ill inmates. Something needs to change.

The summary portion of the custodial death report regarding Mr. Zink reads in its entirety:

“On 02/15/2023, Detention Officer T. Kolawole #76126 notified the Tarrant County Medical team that Inmate Zink had not eating lunch or dinner. RN Kwoke requested that Inmate Zink be escorted to the medical floor. Detention Officer Montiel got a wheelchair and helped Inmate Zink into the wheelchair and then escorted Inmate Zink to the medical unit to be seen by medical staff. Once in the medical unit, medical personnel requested MedStar ambulance to be contacted to transported Inmate Zink to John Peter Smith Hospital. Before the ambulance arrived, medical personnel began performing CPR on ZInk. When Fort Worth Fire Department arrived on scene, they continued chest compressions using the Lucas machine. MedStar ambulance transported Inmate Zink to John Peter Smith Hospital. At John Peter Smith Hospital at approximately 21:18 hours, Doctor H. Campbell pronounced Inmate Zink deceased. Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office retrieved Inmate Zink from the hospital and transported him the Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. As on 03/13/2023, the autopsy results are still pending.”

The report admits that Mr. Zink exhibited mental health problems. However, the report provides no information regarding any ongoing mental health and/or medical treatment Mr. Zink was receiving.

The United States Constitution requires jails to protect inmates from themselves and others. This duty to protect requires jails to provide appropriate mental health and medical care. If a jail, jailers, or medical personnel fail to provide such care, and a person dies as a result, then certain surviving family members may be able to file a federal civil rights lawsuit. Our Texas civil rights law firm is handling a number of such cases.

Written By: Dean Malone

Dean Malone

Dean Malone is the founder of Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a jail neglect civil rights law firm. Mr. Malone earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, and from Baylor University School of Law with a general civil litigation concentration. Mr. Malone served in several staff positions for the Baylor Law Review, including executive editor. Mr. Malone is an experienced trial lawyer, trying a number of cases to jury verdict and also handling arbitrations through final hearing. He heads the jail neglect section of his law firm, in which lawyers litigate cases involving serious injury and death resulting from jail neglect and abuse. Lawyers frequently refer cases to Mr. Malone due to his focus on this very complicated civil rights practice area.