Cody Copeland

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Cody Copeland

The family of a woman who says the woman “essentially starved to death” in the Tarrant County jail filed a lawsuit Monday demanding the county turn over documents related to her death. Kimberly Phillips, 56, died in custody of the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 18. She was moved from the county jail to John Peter Smith Hospital on Feb. 15 after being put on round-the-clock medical watch in the jail for an unspecified amount of time. She was booked into the jail on Jan.

3 weeks ago | star-telegram.com | Cody Copeland

The Tarrant County District Attorney's interpretation of a state law mandating independent investigations of deaths in county jails would "gut" the statute, according to professors at the Texas A&M University School of Law. The District Attorney's Office asked the Texas Attorney General's Office in late March if the law requiring independent investigations into deaths in county jails applies only to those who die on jail premises.

1 month ago | star-telegram.com | Cody Copeland

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission did not order funding cuts to Meals On Wheels programs, according to a commission spokesperson. Meals On Wheels said in a May 1 press release that the health commission had " suspended reimbursement funding for several key programs," including medication management, nutrition counseling, wellness checks, transportation and participant assessments. The funding that was cut totaled $450,000.

1 month ago | star-telegram.com | Cody Copeland

The death of a woman in the Tarrant County jail in February was caused by complications of dehydration and malnutrition, according to the medical examiner's report. Kimberly Phillips, 56, died in custody of the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office on Feb. 18. She was moved from the county jail to John Peter Smith Hospital on Feb. 15 after being put on round-the-clock medical watch in the jail for an unspecified amount of time.

1 month ago | star-telegram.com | Cody Copeland

Texas Commission on Jail Standards Executive Director Brandon Wood (right) and commission Chair Bill Stoudt listen as Tarrant County resident Cassandra Johnson speaks during the public comment segment of the commission's quarterly meeting on May 1, 2025. Johnson's son Trelynn Wormley died in the Tarrant County jail in July 2022, but it was not independently investigated by an outside law enforcement agency per state law.