The independent medical review determined Lashawn Thompson’s manner of death at the Fulton County Jail in September 2022 was a homicide, his family attorneys said at a Monday news conference announcing the findings.
The review showed a lack of medication in Thompson’s bloodstream, indicating his “severe mental illness” was not being medically treated at the time of his death, attorney Ben Crump said.
“(Thompson) had untreated schizophrenia at the time of his death,” Crump said. “There is no question this was criminal negligence.”
Thompson, 35, died last year while in custody on a misdemeanor assault charge and was housed in the psychiatric wing of the jail because of his mental health issues, according to family attorney Michael Harper. He had been in custody for just three months when he died in September 2022.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office listed Thompson’s manner and cause of death as undetermined, according to a document sent to CNN earlier this year. The report listed schizoaffective disorder, bipolar and acute exacerbation as “other conditions.”
The independent medical review listed “untreated decompensated schizophrenia” as a contributing cause to the death, in addition to dehydration, malnutrition and severe body insect infestation, which included lice and bed bugs, as “significant conditions.”
Thompson required daily care for his mental illness and noted “a significant gap” of “43 days where there was minimal documentation found within the records that show care being delivered” to him, according to Mitchell’s findings.
“For these reasons, it is the opinion of this forensic pathologist that Mr. Lashawn Thompson died due to severe neglect,” Mitchell said in the review.
“The combination of dehydration, rapid weight loss, and malnutrition complicated by untreated decompensated schizophrenia led to a fatal cardiac arrythmia of Lashawn Thompson. Had Mr. Thompson received adequate care during his incarceration at the Fulton County Jail then he would not have died at the time that he did,” Mitchell said.
Lashawn Thompson, who died inside a Georgia county jail last year, had been living in conditions akin to a "torture chamber" before ultimately dying of complications stemming from severe neglect to his mental and physical health, according to the man's family attorneys and an independent medical...
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