Lashawn Thompson: Death, Settlement, and DOJ Consent Decree

Lashawn Thompson, a 35-year-old man with schizophrenia, died on September 13, 2022, in the psychiatric wing of the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta after three months of detention on a misdemeanor charge. His body was found covered in insects in a cell an attorney later called a “torture chamber.” An independent autopsy ruled his death a homicide caused by severe neglect. Fulton County paid his family $4 million, three top jail officials resigned, and the U.S. Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation that ultimately placed the entire jail under a federal consent decree.¹

How Thompson Ended Up in the Jail

Thompson was originally from Winter Haven, Florida. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was experiencing homelessness in Atlanta at the time of his arrest.²

In June 2022, a Georgia Tech police officer found him sleeping in a park outside a childcare center in Midtown. Officers charged him with simple battery for allegedly spitting on an officer and discovered an outstanding Alabama warrant tied to a 2017 property theft charge. He was booked into the Fulton County Jail on June 12, 2022, and because jail officials determined he was mentally ill, he was placed in the facility’s psychiatric wing. His family said they were not aware he was in custody.³

What Happened Inside the Cell

Over three months, Thompson’s condition collapsed. He lost 32 pounds, dropping from 180 to 148, roughly 18 percent of his body weight.¹ An independent medical review later found that his last dose of prescribed psychiatric medication came 32 days before he died, leaving his schizophrenia untreated for over a month. The reviewer also identified a 43-day gap in the jail’s medical records with minimal documentation that any care had been delivered.⁴

Records obtained through open records requests show staff were aware he was failing. Detention Officer Jonathan Dente reported that Thompson “had not looked well for the past few days” and said he had tried earlier in the week to get him moved to medical observation. Detention Officer Jeana Andrews said she had raised his living conditions with mental health staff and a sergeant as recently as September 8. A decision was finally made on September 12 to move him. When Andrews came to transport him the next morning, she found him unresponsive, slumped over on the floor with his head in a toilet, covered in feces and lice. Another detention officer refused to perform CPR, saying she “freaked out.”⁵⁶

Family attorney Michael Harper summarized the records this way: “They literally watched his health decline until he died.”⁶

The Two Autopsies

The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office listed Thompson’s cause and manner of death as “undetermined.” Its report described his cell as being in “extremely poor condition with insect infection and other filthiness” and noted his body was “infested with an enormous number of small insects.” It also listed “schizoaffective disorder, bipolar and acute exacerbation” among his conditions.⁷

Dissatisfied with that finding, the family sought a second opinion. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick paid for the independent autopsy through his organization Know Your Rights Camp, which funds secondary autopsies in custodial death cases. Attorney Ben Crump announced the arrangement at an April 20, 2023 press conference.⁸

Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., Chair of Pathology at Howard University, conducted the review. He concluded the cause of death was a fatal cardiac arrhythmia resulting from dehydration, rapid weight loss, and malnutrition, complicated by untreated decompensated schizophrenia. He identified a severe body insect infestation lasting longer than 28 days, involving both lice and bed bugs, as a significant contributing condition. He ruled the manner of death a homicide, concluding that Thompson was “completely reliant on his caregivers” for both daily needs and the acute care his worsening schizophrenia required, and that the care was never provided.⁹⁴

The $4 Million Settlement

After images of the cell went viral, Thompson’s family retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Atlanta attorney Michael D. Harper.¹⁰¹¹¹²

No criminal charges have been filed against any jail staff, medical personnel, or officials in connection with the death. The Atlanta Police Department investigated and forwarded findings to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards conducted an internal review.¹³¹⁴

Firings and Initial Reforms

Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat acknowledged “a number of failures” and accepted the resignations of three top jail officials on April 17, 2023: Chief Jailer John Jackson and Assistant Chief Jailers Derrick Singleton and Adam Lee. “It’s clear to me that it’s time, past time, to clean house,” Labat said.¹⁵

The Sheriff’s Office approved $500,000 in emergency funding for bed bug and lice remediation, and county commissioners approved an additional $5.4 million for inmate health tracking technology, surveillance cameras, and facility upgrades. Reforms included biweekly clinical-grade decontamination of medical and psychiatric units, additional cameras, and a biometric monitoring system called Talitrix. Labat initially moved to terminate the contract with jail medical provider NaphCare Inc., but the Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 in June 2023 to extend the contract through the end of that year.¹⁶¹⁷

The DOJ Investigation and Consent Decree

In July 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into the Fulton County Jail under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the probe would examine failures to provide adequate medical care and discrimination against incarcerated people with mental health conditions.¹⁸

The DOJ released its findings on November 14, 2024. Investigators concluded there was reasonable cause to believe Fulton County and the Sheriff’s Office were violating the constitutional and statutory rights of incarcerated people, and described Thompson’s death as symptomatic of “horrific, dehumanizing, and dangerous conditions” throughout the facility. Between 2022 and 2024, six incarcerated people died in violent attacks. In 2023 alone, the jail recorded 1,054 assaults and 314 stabbings, a stabbing rate 27 times that of New York City jails. Investigators found sewage backups, standing water, exposed wires, pest infestations, and nutritionally inadequate meals, along with constitutionally deficient medical and mental health care and discriminatory use of restrictive housing against people with mental health disabilities. The DOJ concluded the problems were rooted in management failures rather than the age of the building and said a proposed $1.7 billion new jail was “not among solutions.”¹⁹²⁰

On January 6, 2025, the United States filed a consent decree against Fulton County and Sheriff Labat in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Case No. 1:25-cv-00024-LMM). The binding agreement requires reforms to safety, cleanliness, staffing, and medical and mental health care, and covers protections against violence and excessive force, restrictive housing practices, and special education services for 17-year-olds charged as adults. It was the second time in 20 years the jail came under federal court oversight; the facility was previously monitored beginning in 2006. In February 2025, the court appointed Kathleen Kenney as independent monitor, with public progress reports required every six months.²¹²²

As of early 2026, the county is not in compliance. Kenney reported that a severe staffing crisis “prevents the county from safely and humanely housing its inmates.” Some cleanliness improvements were noted in visits between May and October 2025, but later assessments documented mold, broken ceilings, and peeling paint. The monitor warned that absent sustained progress, “a court-ordered population cap aligned with available staffing levels may become necessary to ensure safe operations.” Sheriff Labat said compliance would decrease unless staffing improved substantially. Fulton County has pledged up to $300 million toward improvements at the Rice Street facility.²³²²

1
BBC News. Lashawn Thompson Fulton County Jail Death
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. How a Homeless Man Wound Up Dead and Covered in Bugs in Fulton County Jail
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Democracy Now!. Lashawn Thompson Atlanta Jail
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GPB News. Autopsy Finds Severe Neglect to Blame for Man’s Death in Bedbug-Infested Jail Cell
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Business Insider. Fulton County Jail Staff Lashawn Thompson Cell Death Records
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CBS News. Fulton County Jail Changes After Inmate Eaten by Bedbugs
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CNN. Lashawn Thompson Atlanta Inmate Death Independent Medical Review
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CBS News. Colin Kaepernick Lashawn Thompson Georgia Inmate
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Axios Atlanta. Lashawn Thompson Independent Autopsy Fulton County Jail
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Ben Crump Law. Crump Retained Lashawn Thompson Family
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CNN. Lashawn Thompson Fulton County Settlement
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Ben Crump Law. Joint Statement Following Settlements in Lashawn Thompson Bed Bug Case
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ABC News. $4M Settlement Reached With Family of Man Who Died in Bed Bug-Infested Jail Cell
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Atlanta News First. Culpability All Around: Sheriff Announces Resignations, Changes Related to Inmate Death
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Courthouse News Service. Family Demands Answers After Detainee Found Dead Covered in Bed Bugs
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FOX 5 Atlanta. Family Holds Press Conference at Fulton County Jail After Inmate’s Death
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Atlanta News First. Fulton County Extends Contract With Controversial Jail Medical Provider
18
NPR. Georgia Fulton County Jail Justice Department Investigation
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U.S. Department of Justice. Investigation of the Fulton County Jail
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. DOJ Report: New Fulton Jail Not Among Solutions to Inmate Death Crisis
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U.S. Department of Justice. Consent Decree, United States v. Fulton County
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Axios Atlanta. Fulton Jail Consent Decree
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Staffing Crisis May Require Cap on Fulton’s Jail Population, Report Says