3 Tarrant County women died from hypothermia during extreme cold temperatures

Ciara McCarthy
·1 min read
6

At least three Tarrant County residents died from hypothermia during the week of freezing weather in Fort Worth in mid-January, according to data from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.

An Arctic blast brought frigid weather to North Texas for nine days in January, with temperatures dropping as low as 11 degrees on Jan. 15.

The three hypothermia deaths occurred between Jan. 13 and Jan. 21, according to the medical examiner’s office. Two of the deaths were KXAS-TV.

Massah Kwadzo, 62, died Jan. 13 from hypothermia, according to the medical examiner. She was found on Presidio Street, near Lancaster Avenue.

Odessa Johnson, 81, was found dead in her home in south Fort Worth on Jan. 16.

A woman living in a retirement community in Grand Prairie also died, according to the medical examiner’s office. Vernestine Kidd, 78, died Sunday. The retirement community where Kidd lived, Mountain Creek Retirement Living, did not respond to an email from the Star-Telegram asking whether Kidd was outside at the time of her death or whether the heat in Kidd’s home was working.