Read the latest in our coverage of the Tarrant County jail.
Tarrant County has agreed to pay $750,000 to the family of a mentally ill woman who died in the jail in 2021, the family’s lawyer announced Friday.
Georgia Baldwin died on Sept. 14, 2021, after jailers found her unresponsive in her cell at Lon Evans Corrections Center in downtown Fort Worth. She was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. She had been in jail for five months.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled she died of severe hypernatremia, which is a high level of sodium in the blood usually attributed to dehydration. The medical examiner, however, said that the cause of the condition was undetermined.
The Sheriff’s Office declined to comment, stating that the department is still investigating Baldwin’s case.
A statement from the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office said “the parties have agreed to settle this matter, but the settlement papers have not been finalized yet.”