FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA –The family of a Fulton County J@il inmate who died in a bedbug-infested cell has disclosed the results of an independent autopsy and reiterated their calls for justice in his de@th.
Lashawn Thompson, 35, d!ed three months after being lodged in Atlanta’s Fulton County J@il in September 2022. After failing to pay his $2,500 bond for a misdemeanor offense, his body was discovered in a cell in the mental ward covered in bed bugs and insects.
Photos showing Thompson’s cell and his face and body covered with insects went viral on social media in April when his family’s local attorney, Michael Harper, exposed them to the press. Thompson’s cause of de@th is listed as “undetermined” in the medical examiner’s report. However, he had a “severe bed bug infestation.”
According to Harper, the independent autopsy, which former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick helped fund, validated much of the facts in the medical examiner’s report but ruled that Thompson d!ed from a cardiac arrhythmia caused by criminal mistreatment.
Attorney Ben Crump described Thompson’s de@th as “one of the most deplorable in-custody deaths in the history of America,” the family’s commissioned autopsy revealed that the Georgia man did not receive the therapy he required for his mental illness.
“Major contributing causes – untreated schizophrenia, dehydration, malnutrition, and extensive and severe body insect infestation,” Crump described.
Crump referred to the detention cell that Thompson was residing in as a “torture chamber” and stated that Thompson dropped over 30 pounds while he was staying in the cell.
“They said it was innumerable how many bedbug bites were on his body,” He stated while pointing to the autopsy report.
According to reports, records from the j@il suggest that custody officers and medical staff noted Thompson’s deteriorating condition but did little to help him, ultimately leading to his tragic de@th.
WSB-TV shared the same news on his Twitter handle.
The family calling for justice after they say their loved one was “eaten alive” by bed bugs at the Fulton County Jail has released the results of an independent autopsy. https://t.co/QFNs0auFT1
— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) May 23, 2023
“For 93 days, there was severe neglect for a mentally ill citizen,” Crump stated. “And for about 40 of them he didn’t get any medical treatment at all.”
Crump called the j@il “a cancer at the heart of Fulton County” and asked that the county take action to make significant reforms. He described the pr!son as “at the very center” of the county.
During his remarks at the news conference, NAACP President Attorney Gerald Griggs emphasized the need to ensure that Thompson’s family is “made whole” and that those responsible for his passing are brought to justice.
“It’s time for Georgia to live up to its civil rights banner, starting with Lashawn Thompson,” Griggs says.
According to Brad McCray, Thompson’s brother, the revelation that his family had to deal with what his older brother had been through was heartbreaking.
“It’s not enough that the bedbugs and lice ate my brother to death,” McCray stated. “It’s the neglect that affects me the most.”
According to McCray, one of McCray’s brothers reportedly suffered a mental collapse after seeing how Thompson was being held at the j@il.
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As a direct result of Thompson’s passing, Sheriff Pat Labat of Fulton County accepted the resignations of three top officials at the j@il. The facility was described as being in “dilapidated and rapidly eroding conditions” by the sheriff’s office in a statement that was released.
In addition, the sheriff’s office has begun an internal inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Thompson’s de@th and is also working to remedy the facility’s cleanliness and infestation issues.
“We understand, and I have said this publicly, this is absolutely unconscionable, point-blank,” Labat stated during a press conference with the family.
Family members have requested that the county conduct an investigation. Two investigations are underway, one by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and one by the Atlanta Police Department. They will be turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation once completed.
In response to Thompson’s de@th, the county board approved an additional $5.3 million for j@il renovations, including heightened monitoring in the psychiatric and medical units and more frequent high-level cleanliness of those facilities.
The family intends to sue in civil court over the de@th.
The Fulton County J@il has had various problems over the years.
A deputy was recently dismissed for allegedly opening doors for an inmate; cops are being investigated for allowing convicts to order from restaurants; an inmate reportedly bit off part of a deputy’s ear; and a female officer was caught on tape having s*xual relations with an inmate.
In February, a detention officer was arrested for failing to protect an inmate from bodily harm and aiding and abetting the commission of a crime.