Georgia inmate eaten alive by bugs died by homicide, autopsy reveals

Attorneys for Lashawn Thompson, an inmate at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia allegedly eaten alive by bugs in his cell last year, have released details of his autopsy results.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell listed Thompson’s cause of death as complications due to severe neglect and major contributing causes as untreated schizophrenia, dehydration, malnourishment and severe body insect infestation. 

Thompson’s manner of death was homicide, Mitchell found.

“These autopsy findings confirm that Lashawn was killed by the extreme neglect of the Fulton County Jail and its staff,” Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Thompson’s family in a lawsuit against the jail, said in a Monday statement ahead of a press conference. “He was dehydrated, malnourished, and his body was infested inside and out with insects — it is truly one of the most horrific cases we have seen.”

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Crump added that the jail staff’s “inaction, cruelty, and inhumanity killed” Thompson. 

Thompson, 35, was awaiting trial for a June 2022 misdemeanor simple battery charge, attorney Michael Harper of the Harper Law Firm, who is representing Thompson’s family, told Fox News Digital in April.

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Jail officials placed Thompson in the psychiatric wing after determining he had schizophrenia, Harper said. He shared several extremely graphic photos of Thompson and the filth he allegedly died in at the detention facility.

Three months after his placement in the psychiatric wing, jail officials discovered Thompson rotting away, eaten by bugs, in a filthy jail cell.

Public records obtained by Harper’s law office apparently show that detention officers and medical staff at the jail noticed Thompson’s deterioration — including an infection from bedbugs and lice on his torso — while he was still alive but did nothing to aid him.

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There were plans to transfer him to another unit of the jail that never came to fruition when they eventually found Thompson dead in the cell, Harper alleged.

The Fulton County Jail in Georgia announced in April that it was transferring more than 600 inmates and releasing an emergency $500,000 expenditure to address overcrowding issues after Thompson’s death made national news.

“It’s no secret that the dilapidated and rapidly eroding conditions of the current facility make it incredibly difficult to meet the goal of providing a safe, clean, well-maintained and healthy environment for all inmates and staff,” Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said in a statement at the time. “Without making explicit statements about Mr. Thompson’s health, it’s fair to say that this is one of many cases that illustrate the desperate need for expanded and better mental health services.”

The Atlanta Police Department and Georgia Bureau of Investigation are conducting investigations into the jail and Thompson’s death.