De@th of Ga. Man in Bedbug-Infested Jail Cell Ruled as Homicide
The Georgia man who passed away in a jail cell that was infested with bed bugs last fall was given the diagnosis of “homicide” by an independent autopsy.LaShawn Thompson’s family and attorneys shared the finding in a press conference outside the Georgia State Capitol on Monday, multiple news outlets including CNN and ABC News report.
According to the autopsy report, obtained by ABC News, Thompson, 35, suffered from “dehydration, malnutrition, severe body insect infestation,” as well as “untreated decompensated schizophrenia.”
The man — who was in the Fulton County Jail on a misdemeanor battery charge — was found dead on Sept. 13, 2022, slumped over his toilet, his body “covered in bed bugs.”
“It’s enough that the bed bugs and lice sat there and ate my brother to death, but it’s the neglect that hurts me the most,” Brad McCray, Thompson’s brother, said during the press conference.Know Your Rights Camp — former NFL player Colin Kaepernick’s nonprofit organization — paid for the independent autopsy, one of the family’s attorneys, Michael Harper, confirmed to ABC.
In the initial autopsy, performed by the Fulton County Medical Examiner and reviewed by PEOPLE last fall, there were no obvious signs of trauma found on Thompson’s body. His cause of death was listed as undetermined.
In a statement obtained at the time, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said, “Due to HIPPA statutes and regulations we are not able to share any information about what Mr. Thompson’s health condition was upon being arrested or what decisions he made regarding his right to accept or refuse medical care.” Thompson was arrested three months earlier, on June 12, 2022, and was put into the psychiatric unit of the jail after officials reportedly determined he had unspecified mental health issues, according to the statement.
The sheriff’s office acknowledged the “dilapidated and rapidly eroding conditions” of the facility, and said Sheriff Patrick “Pat” Labat was launching a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding Thompson’s death.The sheriff said last fall that officials were taking “immediate actions” in the jail including, spending $500,000 to address the infestation of bed bugs, lice and other vermin, updating protocols for security rounds, adding additional staff members to the mental health unit, and transferring more than 600 inmates to other counties in an effort to help relieve overcrowding.
Conditions in the state’s prisons have been under increasing scrutiny.
Last month, a Georgia prison inmate’s decomposing body was found in his cell, five days after he had died, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
