A man who died following an altercation with officers at the Tarrant County Jail after being arrested during a schizophrenic episode had bruises on his body suggesting the use of force, an attorney representing Anthony Ray Johnson Jr.’s family told the Star-Telegram on Monday.
Johnson’s family said they took him to WellBridge Healthcare, a behavioral health facility in Fort Worth, when he began noticing the symptoms of a schizophrenic episode on April 19. He asked his mother to take him to a hospital because he didn’t want to become a danger to himself or others, his family told the Star-Telegram.
Instead of getting help, though, his family said the facility turned him away because he was not yet violent.
WellBridge in Fort Worth declined Monday to comment on whether Johnson was ever a patient or what the mental health facility’s standards are for admissions, directing questions to the facility’s corporate leadership. A spokesperson for corporate could not be reached for comment Monday.