Joe Delane
The April 16 death of Joe Delane, 51, has now been ruled a homicide, according to information on the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s website.
Fort Worth police’s PIO said today (Tuesday, May 29) that the case remains under investigation.
Delane died Monday evening, April 16, in the ICU at JPS Hospital in Fort Worth, following an altercation the previous Friday evening with a bartender at the 515 Bar on South Jennings Street.
A police spokesman at the time told Dallas Voice that the bartender — whose name was not released — said that Delane had been drinking elsewhere when he went into the 515 Bar that night, and that he was being disruptive. The bartender said Delane refused to leave when he was told to, and when the bartender tried to escort him out, Delane punched him. The bartender said he responded by pushing Delane away from him, and that Delane stumbled and fell, striking his head.
But others who saw Delane earlier in the evening have said he was not drunk before he went into 515 Bar, and some who were at the bar have said that it was the bartender who hit Delane, and not the other way around.
Since Delane’s death, the ME’s office has listed the cause and manner of death both as “pending.” At some point between Friday, May 25 and this morning (Tuesday, May 29), that information was changed.
The cause of death is now listed as “blunt force trauma of head,” and manner of death is listed as homicde.
We will update this story as more information becomes available.
— Tammye Nash
