The family of a man who died by suicide in the Tarrant City Jail last year has filed a federal lawsuit against the city in his death.
David M. Farley, 62, was found hanging by his clothing in his cell at 11:18 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:59 p.m.
According to Tarrant police, officers arrested Farley about 9 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of disorderly conduct. Farley, authorities said, was intoxicated and an argument erupted at his home.
When police arrived, they told him to go back into home. When he came back outside again, he was taken into custody.
Police officials said officers do hourly checks on inmates. During the first check, Farley was fine. Before the second check could happen, a dispatcher spotted Farley trying to take his own life on surveillance monitors and that's when jailers and medics responded to his cell.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court this week by attorney Joshua J. Wright of Hollis, Wright, Clay & Vail on behalf of Farley’s daughter, Sonya Lynn Farley, as the administrator of her father’s estate. The suit names as defendants the City of Tarrant, as well as Tarrant police officials including Chief Dennis Reno, Lt. Phillip George, Sgt. Matthew Voss and Officer Jonathan Page.
Reno said he can’t comment on pending litigation.
According to the suit, Farley was known to Tarrant police as having mental illness and depression and knew that he had attempted suicide in the past. The inmate did not undergo medical or suicidal screenings prior to being placed in the cell, the suit states.
The lawsuit states Farley was put in a cell at about 10:37 p.m. Within five minutes, while in the video-monitored cell, the inmate took off his shirt and wrapped it around his neck like a noose. He then attached the shirt to a shelf and tried to hang himself, his attorney contends.
Three minutes later, officers talked with Farley, “presumably to determine why he was attempting to commit suicide,’’ the suit reads, adding the officers took Farley’s shirt, removed the toilet paper dispenser and left.
At 11:02 p.m., according to the lawsuit, Farley removed his pants and created a noose. He then proceeded to hang himself on a wall pipe that was exposed in the Tarrant cell. It was eight minutes that the officers reentered the cell to try and save Farley, who was unresponsive and later pronounced dead.
The suit alleges police failed to properly assess Farley’s mental condition and failed to properly monitor the video in his cell, even after his first suicide attempt. “Such failures were in violation of clearly -established customs, checklists, procedures, law and rules,” the lawsuit states. ”Mr. Farley’s death was easily preventable by the defendants.”
The family is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.