Texas corrections officer waited hours before calling for medics after learning of inmate’s stabbing, cops say
A Texas corrections officer was arrested after allegedly waiting hours to report the fatal stabbing of an inmate inside a maximum-security prison last week.
Ty Wilkerson, 26, of Riverside, was charged with violating the civil rights of a person in custody after the inmate, later identified as 45-year-old Jarrod Tolbert, was found dead in his cell on July 21.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by KTRE, Wilkerson was on duty at the Polunsky Unit, a prison about 70 miles northwest of Houston in West Livingston, at the time of the incident.
At 6:02 a.m., he was told that an inmate had been stabbed following an altercation.
But Wilkerson allegedly did not provide medical assistance or call for help at the time.
The inmate was then discovered unresponsive in his cell at 9:44 a.m.
Tolbert, who had been involved in a physical altercation with other inmates, was pronounced dead by medical personnel that evening at 11:09 p.m., according to a custodial death report.
“The defendant’s failure to render aid and notify authorities contributed to the death of the victim inmate,” the affidavit states.
Wilkerson was booked into the Polk County Jail last Monday and released later the same day.
The Independent has contacted the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for comment.
