ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia sheriff announced Monday the resignation of top prison staff amid an investigation into the death of a man in a bug-infested cell in the prison’s psychiatric wing.
Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said in a news release that the three members of his leadership team have more than 65 years of combined law enforcement and prison management experience. This type of experience can be invaluable, but it can also cause “complacency, stagnation and satisfaction with the status quo,” the press release said.
“I realize it’s time to clean up the house,” Labat said, adding that he decided changes were necessary after finding preliminary evidence in the internal investigation into the death of Lashawn Thompson, 35, at the checked September.
Photos from Thompson’s filthy cell circulated on social media last week, sparking widespread outrage, including from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, which tweeted, “The word inhuman is not enough to describe what the life of #LashawnThompson was disrespected and humiliated at a Fulton County Jail.”
At a meeting over the weekend, Labat requested and received the resignations of the chief jailer, deputy chief jailer and deputy chief jailer in the Criminal Investigation Department, the press release said.
A lawyer for Thompson’s family said last week prison staff did nothing to address Thompson’s deteriorating health in the weeks leading up to his death and he is calling for a criminal investigation. Thompson was arrested June 12 on a misdemeanor battery charge and was sent to the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, where he died three months later.
Attorney Michael Harper called the prison conditions “deplorable” and held up photos of a filthy, garbage-strewn cell which he said was “not suitable for a sick animal”. Photos released by Harper show Thompson’s body covered in insects. The coroner called the cause of death “undetermined”, but determined a “severe bed bug infestation”.
Nationally-renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump announced Monday that he had been hired to represent alongside Harper Thompson’s family.
“Forcing detainees to live in appalling conditions where they are exposed to insects, dirt and infection is totally unacceptable. Nobody should be treated like that. Lashawn and his family deserve full justice for this inhumane treatment,” Crump said in a press release.
The investigation into Thompson’s death — an internal investigation and one by the Atlanta Police Department that responded to Thompson’s death — is still ongoing, the press release said. Once complete, the results will be turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for review.
“The final inquest report will not ease the family’s grief or bring their loved one back, but I hope and expect that it will provide a full, accurate and transparent account of the facts surrounding Mr Thompson’s death so that it provides all the answers that are needed.” they seek and earn,” said Labat.
In addition to personnel changes, the sheriff’s office said it is reviewing legal options to switch medical providers and is seeking a contract with a provider who “can effectively, consistently and compassionately deliver the best standard of care.”
The sheriff’s office said it also spent $500,000 on emergency measures in September to combat infestations of “bed bugs, lice and other vermin.” In addition, 673 inmates are currently housed in other prisons, at an average cost of $47,000 per day, and the sheriff’s office continues to seek to move other inmates out of the prison to further reduce overcrowding, the release said.
