Charles Anthony Johnson was 35 when he died on May 19, 2020, while an inmate at the Tarrant County Jail in the Dallas area. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide from combined mechanical and chemical asphyxia. Initial public notice of his death appeared in an obituary; later examinations and footage prompted a change in how the death was classified.

Video reviewed in the case shows jailer Rafael Moreno kneeling on Johnson’s back while Johnson was handcuffed and had been pepper-sprayed, and reports say Johnson repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. The family filed a civil rights lawsuit against Tarrant County alleging excessive force, inadequate training, and failure to provide proper medical care. The suit names several jailers and identifies Moreno and his supervisor, Lt. Joel Garcia, among those charged in connection with the case.

A North Texas congressman requested that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate Johnson’s death and other inmate deaths at the facility. Does anyone have additional information about Johnson’s time at the jail or the events leading up to May 19, 2020?