Ga. jail staff forced out after inmate eaten alive by bugs

ATLANTA - Top of the Fulton County jail staff have resigned amid an investigation into the death of an inmate who was eaten alive by bedbugs and other insects.

“It’s clear to me that it’s time, past time, to clean house,” Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said Monday, adding that he decided changes were necessary after reviewing preliminary evidence in the internal investigation into the September death of Lashawn Thompson, 35.

Photos from Thompson’s filthy cell spread across social media last week and prompted widespread outrage, including from the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, which tweeted, “the word inhumane doesn’t suffice in describing the way #LashawnThompson’s life was disregarded and degraded in a Fulton County jail.”

At a meeting over the weekend, Labat asked for and received the resignations of the chief jailer, assistant chief jailer and assistant chief jailer in the criminal investigative division.

Thompson was found dead in a Fulton County jail cell on Sept. 13, 2022, three months after he was arrested for misdemeanor battery. Disturbing pictures, provided by attorney Michael Harper, appear to show Thompson’s body riddled with sores believed to be from bed bugs and insects.

Thompson’s family had called for a full investigation.

“I thought about Emmett Till, comparing those photos. It was heartbreaking, hard to look at it,” said Brad McCrae, Thompson’s brother.

Nationally known civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump announced Monday that he had been hired to Harper in representing Thompson’s family.

“It is completely unacceptable to force inmates to live in appalling conditions where they are subjected to insects, grime, and infections. No one should be treated that way. Lashawn and his family deserve full justice for this inhumane treatment,” Crump said.

After the death, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office had announced an additional expenditure of $500,000 to address the infestation of bed bugs, lice, and other vermin, plus an update to protocols for security rounds to include addressing sanitary conditions.

“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,” the agency had said in a statement, noting that the sheriff had been pushing to build a new jail.

Thompson was arrested June 12, according to police. Thompson was taken to the jail and placed in the psychiatric wing after officials determined he had mental health issues. According to his family, Thompson was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia and the jail was aware of his illness.

Thompson was in jail for three months when he was found dead in a jail cell after being eaten alive by bed bugs and insects. Thompson’s family also said they obtained open records, stating the detention officers and medical staff at the jail noticed Thompson was deteriorating, but did nothing to ister aid to him or to help him.

“They literally watched his health decline until he died,” said the family in a statement.

The report also states that when Thompson’s body was found, one of the detention officers refused to ister R because, in her words, she “freaked out.”

“Mr. Thompson was housed in was not fit for a diseased animal,” Harper said. “He did not deserve this.”

A report from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, provided by Harper, stated there were no signs of trauma on Thompson. While his death is listed as “undetermined” the report noted a “severe bed bug infestation.”

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