An Atlanta man died in a local jail after being eaten alive by bed bugs, said a lawyer representing the man’s family.
Lashawn Thompson, 35, was found dead in Fulton County Jail on Sept. 13, 2022, according to a report from the Fulton County Medical Examiner provided by Thompson’s family.
Thompson was incarcerated at the Fulton county Jail in Atlanta on a misdemeanor charge in June 2022. Jail officials had placed Thompson in the facility’s psychiatric unit after determining that he had mental health issues, but noted that he was physically healthy.
Three months later, the man was found unresponsive in his cell in the wing, covered in what records described as a “severe bed bug infestation.” The cell was so filthy that the worker who entered it wore a hazmat suit.
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Photos released alongside the family’s press release depicted Thompson’s face, neck and upper body covered in pockmarked lesions, and dead bugs stuck to his face. Jail records stated that the medical examiner’s cause of death was undetermined.
The man’s family is calling for the closure and replacement of the jail, as well as a criminal investigation into his death.
In a press statement, the Fulton county sheriff’s office said that they had launched a full investigation into Thompson’s death and had committed $500,000 to address vermin outbreaks in the jail.
