FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Dozens of people gathered in front of the Fulton County Jail for a justice rally for Lashawn Thompson who died at the facility in September 2022.
His family said Lashawn Thompson was eaten alive by bed bugs.
“They left him in there to die and everybody should see it. We wanted to have the spirit of Emmett Till’s mom. We didn’t want our brother to be shown like this but the public needs to see it,” said Thompson’s brother, Brad Thompson.
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Attorney Benjamin Crump, who represented the George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and Breonna Taylor families, held a picture of Thompson’s dirty jail cell at the rally.
“It’s not only immoral, but also, in many ways, it’s criminal,” Crump proclaimed.
On Wednesday, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved $5.3 million dollars in funding for sweeping emergency changes at the jail, including GPS health trackers, sanitation and executive changes.
This week, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat called for the resignations of three top jailers.
Labat told the crowd that the investigation into the death is ongoing.
“I don’t want for the sake of expediency rush through, I want to get it right. The family deserves that,” Sheriff Labat said.
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Family attorney Michael Harper said it has taken too long to get answers.
“Sheriff, he died in September, how long does it take?” asked Harper.
Family members told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington they believe Sheriff Labat and others could have done more.
“He could’ve walked the jail. He said he didn’t see the pictures, but why didn’t he check the jail? The death chamber that my brother was in,” Brad Thompson asked.
The family told Washington they next plan to have a private autopsy done on Thompson’s body.
They also want the GBI to take over the case.
Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff has reached out to the Department of Justice about the case.
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