Jail death was homicide via "severe neglect," says an independent autopsy. Lashawn Thompson was found dead in a bug-infested Fulton County Jail cell last September. The medical examiner for the county called Thompson's cause of death "undetermined." Now, an independent autopsy made possible by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's Autopsy Initiative says Thompson's death was caused by "complications due to severe neglect."
Because Thompson "was completely reliant on his caregivers to provide both day-to-day care as well as the acute life-saving care that was needed to save him from the untreated decompensated schizophrenia," the fatal neglect that led to his death should be considered homicide, says the autopsy report. "He did not receive the necessary medical care, nor did he receive the adequate food, water, or shelter necessary to sustain his life."
