Tyler Jay Huffman Dies in Tarrant County Jail – Texas Rangers Investigate

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department, in Fort Worth, Texas, filed a report with the Attorney General of Texas regarding the death of Tyler Jay Huffman. Mr. Huffman was only 38 years old at the time of his death. We provide information we obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.

The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:

Inmate Huffman entered the Tarrant County Jail on September 5, 2021 at 2335 hours on a CDC1 warrants for Poss. CS 1-4 PG1. From my understanding at the scene, Inmate Huffman was detoxing from unknown narcotics. He also had high blood pressure. He was housed in the Tarrant County Belknap Jail on 2-7 (Floor 7) in “O” housing unit cell 1. The inmates are locked inside their cells from 2200 hours to 0730 hours each day. It appears that Inmate Huffman died sometime in the early morning of 09-10-2021. He was found deceased in his cell after he did not get up from the bed to retrieve his breakfast tray at approximately 0600 hours. CPR was performed by the jail staff and he was later pronounced deceased at 0641 hours by EMS. At the time of the report, there did not appear to be anything suspicious with the death. The decedent was transported to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. Texas Department of Public Safety Ranger T. Dendy was called to investigate the death.

The report indicates that Mr. Huffman exhibited mental health problems, but it does not elaborate on those issues. The summary also seems to indicate that, perhaps, Mr. Huffman was not being periodically observed as required by Texas Commission on Jail Standards regulations. Regardless, a full investigation should determine both the cause of Mr. Huffman’s death and whether the Tarrant County jail was properly performing duties in accordance with State regulations.

The 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right of pre-trial detainees to receive reasonable medical care and mental health care. If a detainee does not receive reasonable medical care and/or mental health care, and dies as a result, then certain surviving family members may be able to bring a lawsuit for that death.

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.