Two inmates at the Fulton County Jail have died this month, according to press releases by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO).
On August 2, the FCSO announced that inmate Montay Stinson, 40, was found unresponsive with no obvious signs of injury in his cell two days prior on July 31.
Ten days later, on August 12, the FCSO announced that inmate Christopher Smith, 34, was found by a detention officer unresponsive in a medical unit cell on August 10. Medical personnel resuscitated Smith, and he was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital; however, he died on August 11.
In both cases, the FCSO added in its press releases, “The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.”
The inmate deaths come as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia are currently investigating the conditions at the jail, as previously reported by The Georgia Star News.
Living conditions, medical and mental health care, use of excessive force, and protection from violence will be examined throughout the investigation. The investigation will also determine whether Fulton County and the FCSO discriminate against persons with psychiatric disabilities inside the jail.
The investigation was announced nearly a year after an incarcerated man – Lashawn Thompson – was found dead in a cell on the jail’s psychiatric floor covered in bed bugs and insects. The jail has also faced “credible allegations” that claim it is structurally unsafe.
Lashawn Thompson’s family recently reached a $4 million settlement with Fulton County in the death of Thompson. The family’s settlement came two months after the release of the private autopsy of Thompson showed that he died from “severe neglect.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network.
If the Press approaches him he should ask out loud : is this the jail where several have recently died and one eaten alive buy bed bugs?”