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Lashawn Thompson did not have any kind of medications in his system and died of neglect after his horrific bed bug bite death while in Georgia’s Fulton County Jail, an independent autopsy report found.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said during a news conference at the Georgia Capitol building Monday that Thompson died from a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. According to Crump, this was due to dehydration, rapid weight loss, severe neglect, and decompensating, untreated schizophrenia.
Thompson had been incarcerated at the facility for 93 days on a misdemeanor battery charge before his untimely passing.
The 35-year-old reportedly had none of the necessary medications he would have needed to treat his mental health issues at the time of his death in September.
“There is no question this is criminal negligence,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump said. “He was neglected to death. The lack of medication in his body at the time of autopsy means his mental health issues were not being treated at the time of his death… They said it was innumerable the number of bites on his body. It was a literal torture chamber,” Crump continued.
Crump called out the Fulton County commissioners. He said, “The blood is on your hands until you do right by this family.”
“Brittney Griner was treated better in a Russian prison than Lashawn was right here in America,” Crump added.
The autopsy was paid for by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. It was conducted by Dr. Roger Mitchell, chair of pathology at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Atlanta News First reports.
Crump also provided a written statement on the matter Monday morning before the press conference.
“These autopsy findings confirm that Lashawn Thompson was killed by the extreme neglect of the Fulton County Jail and its staff. He was dehydrated, malnourished, and his body was infested inside and out with insects – it is truly one of the most horrific cases we have seen. This man endured a torturous death. It is unfathomable that no one working in this facility lifted a finger to help Lashawn as he slowly died for three months on their watch. Their inaction, cruelty, and inhumanity killed him.”
Crump added: “We will do everything in our power to hold those responsible for Lashawn’s death accountable. Lashawn, his family, and everyone who has suffered in the so-called care of Fulton County Jail deserves at least that much.”
Crump and Thompson’s family were also joined by attorney Michael Harper, Georgia NAACP President Gerald Griggs, and Rev. Jamal Bryant. The group called on Georgia officials to file criminal charges in Thompson’s death.
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat announced that three top-ranking jail staffers would resign due to Thompson’s death.
Meanwhile, Lashawn’s death is hardly the first at the Fulton County Jail. Sixty-four people reportedly died at the correctional facility between 2009 and October 2022 alone, as reported by The Shade Room.
That marks the highest death toll for any jail in Georgia during that timeframe.
