The attorneys for Lashawn Thompson’s family released the results of an independent autopsy into his death in a bedbug-infested cell in the psychiatric ward of the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. According to the autopsy report written by Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., “Mr. Thompson was neglected to death.” Both “Complications due to Severe Neglect” and “Untreated Decompensated Schizophrenia” were listed as contributing factors to the death.
After Thompson’s death three months after booking, his family’s attorney released photos of him with insects covering his face and body last month, which infuriated many. Mitchell concluded that the lack of medical attention, food, water, and shelter, along with the untreated decompensated schizophrenia, which led to a fatal ventricular arrhythmia, constituted murder.
Medical records show that Thompson took his last dose of mental health medication 32 days before to his death, and that he dropped 32 pounds (18% of his total weight) during his three months in the Fulton County Jail. The “innumerable number of insects” that covered him also made his hands and feet filthy.
He termed Thompson’s killing “absolutely unconscionable,” and Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat announced the GBI would be taking over the probe from his office and the Atlanta Police Department. Labat has not addressed the independent autopsy report, but he has resigned three top jail employees.
The family’s human rights lawyer, Ben Crump, has called the new autopsy “one of the most deplorable in-custody deaths in the history of America.” The lawyers and activists for the family thanked Sheriff Labat but encouraged the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to quickly fix the concerns with the facility. They demanded that the district attorney’s office press charges and that Governor Brian Kemp do something about a “mental health crisis.”
Know Your Rights Camp Autopsy Initiative, founded by Colin Kaepernick, footed the bill for the impartial autopsy.
