A man being held in a psychiatric wing of a US jail died after being 'eaten alive' in a filthy jail cell with a severe bedbug infestation.
According to his family's lawyer, the man who was being held in the Georgia jail received no help from staff who did nothing to address his deteriorating health.
The lawyer is now asking for a criminal investigation into his death.
LaShawn Thompson, 35, was arrested on June 12 on a misdemeanour charge and booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, his family's lawyer Michael Harper said during a news conference streamed online on Thursday, April 13.
Staff placed Thompson in the psychiatric wing after determining he had "mental health issues", Harper said, adding that Thompson had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Thompson died in jail three months later.
"This was a deplorable situation," Harper said displaying photos of a cell with a dirty toilet and rubbish across the floor. "The cell he was in was not fit for a diseased animal."
He called on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to open a criminal investigation into Thompson's death and for the jail to be closed - noting that Sheriff Pat Labat has been calling for a new jail.
A spokesman for Willis said he could not comment on the particular case but said the district attorney's office does investigate alleged crimes at the jail.
Fulton County Sheriff's Office extended its condolences to Thompson's family in a statement to WSB-TV, saying an investigation into his death is underway.
Records obtained through open records requests show jail officer and medical staff "saw him deteriorating in the last few weeks before he died. They did nothing to help him," Harper said.
An Atlanta police officer who was called at 4.40am on September 13 after jail staff found Thompson unresponsive in his cell tried, unsuccessfully, to resuscitate him, according to a report from the county medical examiner released by Harper.
"There was no obvious signs of trauma found," the report said. "The decedent's body was covered in bed bugs."
His cause of death was listed as "undetermined".
"The ongoing investigation is examining details regarding the medical care provided and ultimately will determine whether any criminal charges are warranted in this case," the statement from the sheriff's office says.
"The health, well-being and security of inmates in our care is our top priority. It's no secret taht the dilapidates and rapidly eroding conditions of the current facility make it incredibly difficult to meet the goal of providing a clean, well-maintained and healthy environment for all inmates and staff."
It is for this reason that the sheriff has called for the construction of a new jail "which will provide an elite level of care, mental health services, security and cleanliness," the statement says.
Immediate steps were taken as a result of the investigation, including spending $500,000 to address the infestation of "bed bugs, lice and other vermin", cleaning operations to target transmissible diseases and updating protocols for security rounds to include addressing sanitary conditions, according to the statement.
