Fulton County, Georgia, has reached a $4 million settlement in the case involving a 35-year-old homeless man who died in the county jail’s mental health wing last year.
County commissioners approved the settlement in a 6-0 vote on Wednesday. Details aside from the $4 million price tag were not available, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman said she wants to see policies and procedures established to prevent further deaths.
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Lashawn Thompson, 35, died in the Fulton County Jail in September. He had been arrested on a charge of simple battery after he spit on an officer. At the time of his arrest, he was found sleeping in a park near a childcare center in Atlanta. Thompson had a history of mental illness.
Thompson was found dead in his cell three months later, covered in sores and bites from bed bugs and lice so severe that his family could not identify him. Photos from inside the jail cell showed that Thompson was being held in filthy conditions, with dirt and grime covering the floors, walls, and toilet.
Abdur-Rahman said she believes that the healthcare provider at the county jail, NaphCare, also reached a similar settlement with Thompson’s family.
“No amount of money can bring back the life of a loved one,” she said.
Atlanta attorney Michael Harper, one of the Thompson family’s lawyers, said on Wednesday afternoon that the family would not be releasing a statement on the settlement, per the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
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Following Thompson’s death, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat said he asked for and accepted the resignations of three of his top deputies: Chief Jailer John Jackson, Assistant Chief Jailer Derrick Singleton, and Lt. Col. Adam Lee, assistant chief jailer for the Criminal Investigative Division.
The Department of Justice is investigating the jail, as Thompson’s death is one of many recorded at the facility in recent years.
