Kenneth Ray Perry Dies in Tarrant County Jail

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, in Fort Worth, Texas, filed a report regarding the custodial death of Kenneth Ray Perry. Mr. Perry’s death is yet another of many deaths occurring recently at the Tarrant County jail. The trend is more than troubling. Mr. Perry was 65 years old at the time of his death.

The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

“Notification of the custodial death of Perry, Kenneth Ray (B/M XX-XX-1957 TX SID XXXXXXXX FBI XXXXXXXXX TX DL XXXXXXXX TCSO CID XXXXXXX) on Thursday, September 29, 2022, at 06:25 am. Kenneth was brought to the Tarrant County Jail on September 27, 2022, at 8:28 pm on a Fort Worth PD charge of Criminal Trespass (PC 30.05(d)(1)). Kenneth was found unresponsive in his cell (61-A-48) at 5:55 am on September 29, 2022. A medical code was called at that time, followed by a Dr. Heart (Cardiac Emergency) at 5:57 am. Med-Star Ambulance Service responded, and Medic T. Miller #703062 pronounced Kenneth deceased at 06:25 am on September 29, 2022. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner will be conducting an autopsy, report #22-17834. Detective K. Davis will be conducting the investigation for the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, report #2022-14055. The outside agency investigation will be conducted by the Fort Worth Police Major Case Unit, supervised by Sgt. J. Phillips.”

Mr. Perry, as we find is true with a significant number of people dying in Texas jails, was arrested only for criminal trespass. This can simply mean he stayed at a business location after being told to leave. Regardless, we have no specific information regarding facts leading to Mr. Perry’s arrest.

The report indicates that Mr. Perry appeared intoxicated. The report does not provide any information regarding whether Mr. Perry needed to be administered medication and/or given treatment pursuant to a detoxification protocol. It also provides no information regarding any observations made of Mr. Perry, prior to being discovered, or any medical treatment received by him before that time.

Our law firm is currently litigating another case against Tarrant County as a result of a person passing away in his cell. He was not found for several hours.

The United States Constitution guarantees the right of pre-trial detainees in Texas jails to receive reasonable medical care. Jailers cannot ignore known medical needs. If they do, and a person dies as a result, then certain surviving family members may be able to file a lawsuit. Moreover, constitutional violations can occur when the policy, practice, and/or custom of a county leads to death. In such a situation, a county may also be joined in a civil rights lawsuit by certain surviving family members.

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.