Two county jail guards have been indicted on murder charges for the asphyxiation death of an inmate in Texas.

The indictments, dated Tuesday, charge Joel Garcia, 48, and Rafael Moreno Jr., 37, in the April death of 31-year-old former Marine Anthony Johnson Jr. at the Tarrant County jail in Fort Worth.

Attorneys for Garcia or Moreno did not immediately return phone calls and text messages for comment Friday.

Randy Moore, an attorney for Garcia, has previously said that Garcia’s role in the fight was limited and that the use of force was necessary.

“The wheels of justice continue to turn in this case,” Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in a statement. “I said from the beginning that we hold accountable anyone responsible for Mr. Johnson’s death and we are doing that.”

Waybourn, who has said Moreno wrongly placed his knee on Johnson’s back after Johnson was handcuffed and that Garcia was the supervisor, initially fired the two, but both were reinstated and placed on paid leave because the sheriff’s office said the dismissals did not follow official protocol.

The force used in Johnson’s death is intended to stop and subdue people without killing them, yet increasingly it has come under scrutiny following the 2020 death of George Floyd.

Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer restrained him face down on the ground for nine minutes and pinned a knee to the back of Floyd’s neck, an incident that sparked outrage nationwide.

The family of Johnson, who had been arrested two days before his death for allegedly using a knife to threaten the driver of a vehicle, has called for a federal investigation of the jail. The family has told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Johnson was suffering from a mental health crisis.

On Friday, four Missouri prison guards were charged with murder, and a fifth with accessory to involuntary manslaughter, in the December death of a Black man who was pepper-sprayed, had his face covered with a mask and was left in a position that caused him to suffocate.

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state’s ban on gender transition treatment for children, allowing the Lone Star State to remain one of at least 25 states, and the largest, with restrictions on such treatment.

The law, which has been in effect since Sept. 1, 2023, prohibits children under the age of 18 from accessing hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender transition surgery. Children who were already on those medications were required to taper off their use of the drugs. The law includes exemptions for children in early puberty or who have “a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development.”

The lawsuit that challenged the law argued it harms transgender teenagers who are barred from receiving gender transition treatment recommended by their physicians and parents, according to The Associated Press.

The court, comprised of all Republicans, handed down its ruling in an 8-1 decision.

JUDGE RULES MONTANA LAW DEFINING SEX AS ONLY MALE OR FEMALE IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

“We conclude the Legislature made a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children, particularly in light of the relative nascency of both gender dysphoria and its various modes of treatment and the Legislature’s express constitutional authority to regulate the practice of medicine,” Justice Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle wrote.

The lone dissenting judge said the court was giving the state’s government the ability to “legislate away fundamental parental rights.”

“The State’s categorical statutory prohibition prevents these parents, and many others, from developing individualized treatment plans for their children in consultation with their physicians, even the children for whom treatment could be lifesaving,” Justice Debra Lehrmann wrote. “The law is not only cruel — it is unconstitutional.”

A lower court had ruled the law unconstitutional, but it was permitted to take effect during the state Supreme Court’s consideration of the case.

Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted after the ruling that his office “will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that doctors and medical institutions follow the law.”

The law prohibits children under the age of 18 from accessing hormone therapy, puberty blockers and gender transition surgery. (Fox News )

The groups who filed the lawsuit criticized the ruling as harmful to transgender children and their families.

“It is impossible to overstate the devastating impact of this ruling on Texas transgender youth and the families that love and support them,” Karen Loewy, senior counsel and director of Constitutional Law Practice at Lambda Legal, which was one of the groups that sued the state on behalf of doctors and families, told The Associated Press.

ACLU of Texas’ policy and advocacy strategist for LGBTQIA+ rights, Ash Hall, said the government should not “deprive trans youth of the health care that they need to survive and thrive,” adding that “Texas politicians’ obsession with attacking trans kids and their families is needlessly cruel.”

Gender transition treatment for transgender children is supported by major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association and the Endocrine Society.

BRAGG’S OFFICE FACES BAR COMPLAINT ALLEGING DISCRIMINATION IN ‘DIVERSITY’ HIRING PRACTICES

The lawsuit that challenged the law argued it harms transgender teenagers who are barred from receiving gender transition treatment recommended by their physicians and parents. (ALLISON DINNER/AFP via Getty Images)

One justice dismissed the medical groups’ position as irrelevant to whether the Texas law is constitutional.

“The fact that expert witnesses or influential interest groups like the American Psychiatric Association disagree with the Legislature’s judgment is entirely irrelevant to the constitutional question,” Justice James Blacklock wrote in a concurring opinion. “The Texas Constitution authorizes the Legislature to regulate ‘practitioners of medicine.’”

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In a lower court hearing, several doctors who treat transgender children testified that patients could face deteriorating mental health that could potentially lead to suicide if they are denied gender transition treatment.

Texas officials said the law was needed to protect children and pointed to several other restrictions for minors intended to keep them safe, including when it comes to tattoos, alcohol, tobacco and certain over-the-counter drugs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – After five months of looking into complaints made against Wichita Falls City Council members in January, the Texas Ethics Commission has resolved the issue.

Tim Short, Tom Taylor, Jeff Browning, and Mike Battaglino all have agreed to pay a $500 Civil Penalty.

Cathy Dodson, who ran for the City Council District 3 seat in last year’s general election filed the complaints to the T.E.C.

“A non-profit cannot be involved in politics, the Wichita Falls Firefighter Association couldn’t list it that would be illegal,” Cathy Dodson said.

She told crews back in January that she had sufficient evidence to prove the four men took money from the Wichita Falls Firefighter Association PAC.

After notifying the council of their finding, they released a statement:

“The PAC provided written notice of this in-kind contribution on April 21, 2024. All four of us have now corrected our reports to disclose the in-kind contributions. Our joint settlement also states that the parties neither admit or deny the findings of the fact and conclusions of law described. We have paid the small civil penalty and made the bookkeeping adjustments. As a group, we look to move forward for the betterment of the city of Wichita Falls,” City Council Members said.

The city also added, at least six other complaints to the Ethics Commission regarding the same issues were dismissed.

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