Family blames county, jailer for inmate's death

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County mother is convinced her son is dead, because a jailer ignored his screams for help.
 
"I'm going to fight for justice for my son. This could have been prevented. That officer that ignored my son's cries. I need that dealt with ASAP," Cassandra Tyson said. 
 
Police say Donte Wyatt strangled and assaulted Jah'Corey Tyson, 23, inside the county jail on July 4.
 
The cellmates were housed on the seventh floor of the DeKalb County jail. 
 
"I hold the DeKalb County Jail responsible for everything," Jah'Corey Tyson's girlfriend, Alexandria Leonard, told Channel 2 Action News. 
 
Cassandra Tyson says insiders told her that her son yelled for help and hit the buzzer inside his cell as Wyatt attacked him. 
 
"He was screaming for his life," she said.
 
"And they didn't come?" Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Erica Byfield asked.
 
"She stopped the buzzer, and she even told the inmate to stop buzzing her," Cassandra Tyson said referring to a jailer. 
 
Her son, a father of three, was in custody for a family violence and rape charges.
 
Cassandra Tyson said by the time investigators found her son, it was a gory sight.  

"(His eye) was out of his head, and they could only find one eyeball," she said. 
 
Police wouldn't go that far but say Wyatt assaulted Jah'Corey Tyson with a sharp toothbrush.
 
Wyatt was in jail for allegedly stabbing his wife and killing a stranger. 
 
Jah'Corey Tyson's loved ones don't understand why the men were in the same cell. 
 
His family's sources and Channel 2 sources say the other inmates tried to help Jah'Corey Tyson. 
 
"All of the other inmates, they were helping Corey, pressing the button, pressing the button. That lady muted the whole button," Leonard said, "They are irresponsible. Itcould have been anybody, not just Jah'Corey. It could have been anybody." 
 
Tyson's mom told Byfield God will deal with Wyatt, and now she is seeking another kind of justice. 
 
"There was neglect. My grandkids don't have a father," Cassandra Tyson said.

WSBTV