The family of a man jailed in the US are demanding answers after he was “eaten alive” by bedbugs in his cell.
LaShawn Thompson, who was 35-years-old, was brought to jail on a charge of battery in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 12, The Daily Star reported.
Authorities said he was brought to the Fulton County Jail and put in the psychiatric wing after officials found that he had mental health troubles. However, three months later, Thompson was found dead.
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Thompson’s lawyer Michael D. Harper said in an official statement that the prisoner was discovered dead in a jail cell after he was allegedly “eaten alive by bed bugs and insects”.
He labelled the incident as "one of the most inhumane deaths" he had ever heard of.
“What Mr. Thompson was housed in was not fit for a diseased animal,” Harper stated, adding: “He did not deserve this.”
Thompson was reportedly living in those conditions for several months.
“Someone has to be held accountable for his death,” he added. “The Fulton County Jail must be closed and replaced”.
His family has claimed that prison documents show that those working in the jail were aware of his worsening condition, however no effort to resolve the situation was made.
“They literally watched his health decline until he died,” the family said in a statement.
Snaps from inside the cell show the sickening conditions that Harper says were “unfit for a dog”.
He added that when a prison warder was called to administer life saving first aid to Mr Thompson, she “freaked out” due to the layer of bedbugs on his body.
He descirbed the scene as "horrific" saying she refused to administer CPR.
A report from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office showed there were no signs of physical injury on Thompson’s body, but revealed that there was a “severe bed bug infestation.”
Thompson’s cause of death is currently listed as “undetermined”.
A total of 16 deaths have occurred in Fulton County Jail since 2020.
Prison authorities have yet to reply to several requests for a comment.
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