Tarrant County will pay $750,000 to the family of a woman who died in a Fort Worth jail.
In September of 2021, Georgia Kay Baldwin died at age 52 in her cell at Lon Evans Corrections Center in downtown Fort Worth. Baldwin had been in jail for five months.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that she died of severe hypernatremia, which occurs when a high concentration of sodium is in the blood, usually due to dehydration. However, the medical examiner said the cause of her condition was not determined.
Baldwin was regarded to be severely mentally ill. She was arrested for leaving threatening voicemails for then-Arlington Police Lieutenant Christopher Cook.
“It was clear from her voicemail messages that she had significant mental health issues,” said Dean Malone, Baldwin’s family’s attorney, in a statement. “Regardless, she was arrested and incarcerated in the Tarrant County jail for a lengthy period of time.”
Malone alleged that throughout Baldwin’s time in jail, she continued to have severe mental health issues and could not care for her own needs. He said that the jail did not have the appropriate care Baldwin needed for her mental conditions, and she needed to be transferred to an inpatient mental health treatment facility.
Malone filed a federal lawsuit against Tarrant County regarding Baldwin’s death and her constitutional rights being violated. Malone and the legal representatives from Tarrant County could not come to a successful mediation. After the mediation, Tarrant County offered a $750,000 judgment against it.
“It is unfortunate in cases like this that counties do not at the beginning of a case, when they already know everything that happened, make a meaningful effort to resolve the case. We filed this case well over a year ago,” wrote Malone.
“Regardless, even though the judgment amount is inadequate when measured against the suffering and loss of life, if nothing else, perhaps resolution of this case will lead to changes not only in the Tarrant County jail, but also other jails across Texas.”
