“Devoured alive”: placed in pre-trial detention, he experiences an abominable death in his cell

The story is hardly believable. On September 13, 2022, a remanded man was found dead in his cell at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia. LaShawn Thompson, 35, was arrested on June 12, 2022 following an assault. Diagnosed mentally unstable, he had been placed in the psychiatric hospital of the establishment pending his trial. He was found dead three months later in a cell “horrible that would not even be suitable for an animal”, said his family’s attorney, Michael D. Harper. He was allegedly eaten by bed bugs.

“We call for a criminal investigation into the death of Mr. Thompson, the magistrate told the Daily Mail. We also demand the closure of the prison. These cells are horrible and wouldn’t even fit an animal. And Mr. Thompson hadn’t even been convicted. He was remanded in custody until his trial.” In the columns of Atlanta News First Me Michael D. Harper judged the death of his client “inhuman“, explaining that his condition had gradually deteriorated without anyone paying the slightest attention.”They watched his condition deteriorate until he died. (…) Someone has to be held responsible. (…) The scene was so gruesome that the prison worker said she didn’t even dare perform CPR when she found him. She was, she said, horrified because she could see.”

A “severe infestation of bedbugs”

According to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s report, LaShawn Thompson’s cause of death could not be established. Nevertheless, a “severe bedbug infestation” has been raised. According to the Southern Center for Human Rights, several outbreaks of scabies and lice have been recorded at the Fulton County Jail in the past year. At least 10 people are said to have died within its walls in 2022.