An Atlanta man died in a local jail after being eaten alive by bed bugs, a lawyer representing the man’s family said.
The family of Lashawn Thompson, 35, is calling for a criminal investigation into Thompson’s death and for the closure and replacement of a local jail after alleging that Thompson died in custody from bed bugs in a squalid jail cell.
Thompson was incarcerated at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on a misdemeanor charge. Prison officials had placed Thompson in the facility’s psychiatric unit after determining that he had mental health issues, but noted that he was physically healthy.
In September last year, three months after being arrested, Thompson was discovered dead inside a dilapidated cell covered in grime and insects. The cell was so filthy that an employee wore a hazmat suit upon entering, the Washington Post reported.
“They left him there, essentially,” Thompson family lawyer Michael Harper told the newspaper.
“They had a plan to take him to the medical observation unit, but their plan never happened, and they found him dead, eaten by these bed bugs,” Harper said.
Thompson’s family, who live in Alabama, had not known he was incarcerated and only found out when authorities notified them about his death, the Post reported.
Authorities were not able to resuscitate Thompson in his cell. An autopsy did not determine a cause of death, but noted that there was an “extremely severe” infestation of small insects on Thompson’s body and a “severe bed bug infestation” in Thompson’s cell.
The report also said that Thompson had signs of cuts and wounds along his body from picking his skin.
Graphic photos released by Harper show the horrific condition of Thompson’s cell and Thompson covered in bugs.
Brad McCrae, Thompson’s brother, said at a news conference on Thursday that the family found the photos distressing to look at, WSB-TV reported.
“It was heartbreaking, because nobody should be seen like that. Nobody should see that,” McCrae said.
The Fulton county sheriff’s office told WSB-TV that an investigation has been launched into Thompson’s death, and US$500,000 has been committed to address vermin outbreaks in the jail.
Criminal charges would be determined after the investigation, it added.
The family said that while they appreciated efforts to improve jail conditions, more needs to be done.
“If you look at those pictures, how deplorable that jail cell was, how did they get to that point in the first place?” Harper told the Post. “It’s not fit for an animal.”
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