Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons said medical documents released Tuesday on Robert Miller lack sufficient evidence to support the county’s claim the Fort Worth man died of sickle cell crisis caused by sickle cell trait. “While it is certainly possible that Mr. Miller died as a result of a sickle cell crisis, I am unconvinced that it is likely he died for that reason alone,” Commissioner Simmons said.
Mr. Miller, who had asthma, died August 1, 2019, after complaining he was unable to breathe following being pepper sprayed by Tarrant County jailers while they processed him into custody. “The sickle cell anemia advocates and experts from whom I’ve sought insight, along with individuals living with sickle cell disease, unilaterally agree that individuals with sickle cell trait could die from such a crisis, but if it happens, it occurs when there is a triggering event.”
“My research has revealed that most of the evidence surrounding sickle cell crisis deaths, in people who have sickle cell trait, points to people dying after intense physical exertion or extreme altitude changes. In other words, something out of the ordinary occurred which caused the crisis and facilitated death. In Mr. Miller’s case, what was the precipitating factor? Until and unless we are able to answer that question, we cannot claim his death to be a natural occurrence.”
Simmons made the statement in response to Tarrant County staff’s long-awaited release of a three-page final report from Mayo Clinic Laboratories in Rochester, Minn. The lab, which received the sample November 19, 2022, from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, cites blood sample degradation as contributing to their inconclusive testing.
The report incorrectly lists Mr. Miller’s age as 42. Simmons’ Concerns About County Transparency Tarrant County officials said in an April 24 statement that the Mayo Clinic “confirmed” Mr. Miller passed away due to a sickle cell crisis caused by sickle cell trait. The County’s statement lists Mr. Miller’s age as 38. “Just so we are all clear, the Mayo Clinic weighed in on whether Mr. Miller carried the sickle cell trait.
The Mayo Clinic Laboratories did not offer an opinion or confirmation on his cause of death despite what county staff wrote in its news release,” she said. “There have been a number of red flags surrounding this case. I do not want to believe our county is intentionally misleading this family and the citizens of Tarrant County, however, it appears we’re playing semantics regarding Mr. Miller’s cause of death.”
