Tarrant County Jail inmate who died at hospital experienced ‘medical emergency’: officials
The Tarrant County Jail inmate who died after being taken to a hospital early Wednesday experienced a “medical emergency” in his cell, according to the sheriff’s office.
The cause of Harold Kent Roberts’ death is still pending on the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website. The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Friday that Roberts experienced a medical emergency around midnight and collapsed in an elevator while on his way to the medical area for observation.
Roberts, 63, was pronounced dead at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth shortly before 1 a.m., according to the medical examiner.
According to court records, Roberts was arrested in September 2020 on a charge of injury to an elderly person. He was accused of grabbing and choking a woman in a domestic violence case in Fort Worth.
He was found incompetent to stand trial in the domestic violence case in November 2020. Roberts was ordered to receive mental health treatment as part of a competency restoration program he was required to participate in, according to court records. He was found competent to stand trial on Jan. 31 of this year, and was transferred back to the jail on Feb. 7.
Today's top stories:
→ Fort Worth ISD technology staff among jobs cut by district
→ Second Court of Appeals affirms Aaron Dean manslaughter conviction
→ Forklift driver killed in accident at north Fort Worth Walmart facility
🚨Get free alerts when news breaks.
At least seven agencies review and investigate all in-custody deaths, according to the sheriff’s office. These include Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office jail staff, the TCSO Criminal Investigations Division, The Texas Commission on Jail Standards, an outside law enforcement agency, JPS medical staff, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office and the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
