DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — On Thursday, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced a former inmate had been indicted in the death of a 27-year-old U.S. Army veteran inside the jail.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes has been following the case since Christon Collins died back in March.
She was there as Boston announced that Tobias Woods, 45, was responsible for giving Collins drugs laced with fentanyl while both of them were inmates at the DeKalb County Jail.
Surveillance camera video aired exclusively by Channel 2 Action News in July shows the final hours leading up to Collins’ life.
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The veteran, who suffered from PTSD, can be seen walking out of his cell and into the common area. Moments later, he collapses and hits his head. Another inmate drags Collins back into his cell where he’s not checked on for three hours. He died in the hospital two days later.
Boston said on Thursday that Woods was the inmate who dragged Collins into his cell and also provided him with the drugs that investigators say led to his death.
Since Collins’ death, Woods had been released on bond for his initial charges of burglary.
On Tuesday, a DeKalb County grand jury indicted Woods on charges of felony murder, two counts of distribution of controlled substances and items prohibited for possession by inmates.
He was arrested again on Wednesday and is currently being held in the DeKalb County Jail.
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After Collins’ death, Fernandes spoke with his mother, Jonia Milburn, who said she tried to get her son help, but since last year, police had kept arresting him for petty crimes like trespassing and damaging property.
Milburn said that every time police arrested Collins, they sent him to jail instead of the VA hospital.
“He went through a lot, and the last thing I wanted to do is have his integrity, his character blemished,” Milburn said. “We’re demanding preventative measures and systemic change with the VA and the Dekalb County prison system.”
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When Boston announced Woods’ indictment on Wednesday, she also announced the indictment of a former deputy, Joann Marks, who was arrested in April for having a sexual relationship with an inmate and smuggling a cell phone and cigarettes into the jail for him.