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Lashawn Thompson died in a jail cell from an infestation of bedbugs in the psychiatric wing of one of the country’s largest lockups in Atlanta, the Fulton County Jail. (Photos from family attorney Michael Harper)
Family members of a former Georgia inmate found dead in a filthy jail cell “not fit for a diseased animal” after being “eaten alive by insects and bedbugs” are calling for a criminal investigation into his death and the closure of the beleaguered Fulton County Jail where he was housed.
Lashawn Thompson, 36, who family members said had schizophrenia, died in a cell in the psychiatric wing of one of the country’s largest lockups based in Atlanta. He died on Sept. 13, three months after his arrest on a misdemeanor battery charge, said family lawyer Michael Harper.
Harper joined family members at a news conference Thursday to discuss the case and demand action. The victim’s brother, Brad McCrae, said he was heartbroken to hear the news about his brother, who attended high school in Florida and loved music, dancing and cooking.
“He was a playful person,” McCrae said. “He was a good person. He didn’t deserve this.”
Harper said there is no excuse for a mentally ill inmate to be left alone in jail, abandoned to die.
“This is inexcusable and deplorable,” Harper said. “The medical staff and the officers saw him deteriorating in the last few weeks before he died. They did nothing to help him. Nothing. They found him dead in his cell, lying there, infested with bedbugs and lice, and that’s what killed him.”
Harper said the family is considering possible legal action related to Thompson’s death.
The lawyer shared photos from the family showing Thompson’s face and body covered with bugs and the grime-filled jail cell.
The investigative report into the death provided by Harper said Thompson was found unresponsive in his cell on Sept. 13 at 4:40 a.m. When his body was found, a detention officer refused to administer CPR because, in her words, she “freaked out,” Harper said. An ambulance was called, and paramedics tried to resuscitate him without success.
The report said there were no obvious signs of trauma, and “the decedent’s body was covered in bedbugs.”
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An officer stated it was unknown the last time he had been seen. The report listed his medical and social history as unknown. His death was deemed undetermined.
Messages from Law&Crime to Fulton County Sheriff’s officials seeking comment were not immediately returned, but a sheriff’s office spokesperson released a statement to Atlanta’s ABC affiliate WSB-TV extending their condolences to his family, announced they have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death, and spent $500,000 to clean and address the infestation of bedbugs, lice and vermin at the jail.
“The ongoing investigation is examining details regarding the medical care provided and ultimately will determine whether any criminal charges are warranted in this case,” the statement said, according to the station. “The health, well-being and security of inmates in our care is our top priority. It’s no secret that the dilapidated and rapidly eroding conditions of the current facility make it incredibly difficult to meet the goal of providing a clean, well-maintained and healthy environment for all inmates and staff. That is precisely why Sheriff Labat continues to call [for] building a new Fulton County Jail and Criminal Justice Complex which will provide an elite level of care, mental health services, security and cleanliness.”
The nonprofit news organization, The Appeal, published an article in November, citing a report by the facility’s medical provider that described people with mental illness “wasting away in a unit overrun by an outbreak of lice and scabies.”
The Appeal chronicled Thompson’s story in the article without naming him, Harper confirmed to Law&Crime.
The report documented Thompson’s mental health, his cycling in and out of jail and court-approved placements, his arrest in Georgia, and concerns raised by jailers about his condition in the days before he died.
His final days were “indicative of widespread neglect of the jail’s most vulnerable detainees, who were wasting away in squalid conditions,” the news organization reported.
A report also in November by the Southern Center for Human Rights, which works for justice for those impacted by the criminal legal system in the Deep South, found that the jail is dangerously understaffed and overcrowded, leaving inmates in dangerous, unhygienic living conditions.
The center said outbreaks of lice and scabies at the facility had been reported since at least September.
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