HENDERSON COUNTY — Texas Rangers have been asked to investigate the death of a Henderson County jail inmate reported by News 8 earlier this week.

News 8’s Brett Shipp reported that a 56-year-old woman died at a hospital after becoming seriously ill in the jail last spring.

Now county officials are dealing with the fallout.

Nieces and nephews of Debra Newton gathered at the Henderson County Courthouse after learning of their aunt’s death from a News 8 report.

“I understand she was in jail,” said nephew Truett Worrell. “But this is not a third world country and we do not kill people for having drug charges.”

Ms. Newton was a frequent inmate at the Henderson County Jail, and was incarcerated on drug charges at the time of her illness. Fellow inmates told News 8 she had been deathly ill for at least a day before she was removed from the jail and taken to a hospital. Ten days later she died. But records show she was released on bond from the jail three weeks after her death.

Henderson County Commissioner Wade McKinney said the News 8 story caught the county off guard. “It’s concerning,” he said. “We were basically caught by a surprise by a newscast. And it’s been very concerning across the county.”

Commissioners met Friday morning to decide about who should run the sheriff’s department.

Henderson County Sheriff Ronny Brownlow announced his retirement last week, as the News 8 investigation was being assembled. He’s currently on vacation and will vacate his post July 31.

County Judge David Holstein says Brownlow’s retirement and the jail incident are unrelated, and that the sheriff had been talking about retirement for some time. Holstein offered support for Brownlow. “I know the sheriff personally,” he said. “And I know he would not be trying to cover anything up. He’s a very, very honorable man.”

E-mail bharris@wfaa.com