ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta woman is making it her mission to help families who have loved ones waiting for trials or bonds inside metro Atlanta jails.
Tneille Davis told Channel 2 Action News she wants to raise awareness about declining conditions.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln explains why Davis worries about the inmates.
“It upsets me that a lot of people think so much bad about him,” said Davis.
It’s a stigma that Davis says good people wear who happen to be convicted felons.
“They think that he’s not human like he’s an animal or something and he just makes wrong choices,” said Davis.
Her brother, Corey Murray, is one of those felons.
“It is easy to get in, but it’s hard to get out,” said Murray.
Davis decided to trade in her 20-year medical career to serve as an advocate for jail reform. She turned her personal social media account, Peachy Tea Time, into an advocacy platform to give a voice to those in jail, living what activists describe as inhumane conditions.
“A lot of families come on, and they don’t have anywhere to go,” said Davis.
While her bother was locked up inside the Clayton County Jail on a theft by receiving charge, Davis says she experienced first-hand what those waiting on bonds and trial dates are living in.
“They beat on you,” said Murray.
Murray recalls numerous assaults from correctional officers while incarcerated there.
He said he was an inmate at the jail when 38-year-old Terry Thurmond died from suffocation after Clayton County Sheriff’s officers did not follow proper protocol in restraining Thurmond.
“So when we found out that a few of those officers that were actually in our dorm, they killed that guy. We were kind of worried about ourselves, you know because there’s nothing that you can do about anything when you’re locked up,” said Murray.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Gov. Kemp announces bonuses for every state employee, public school teacher
- Former Georgia high school football, baseball player drowns on duck hunting trip
- 16-year-old who left home after argument has been found safe, police say
There are currently multiple federal probes into the conditions at several metro Atlanta jails.
Earlier this year Channel 2 Action News reported on an inmate who died at the Fulton County Jail after his family claimed he was eaten alive by bed begs.
Recently, an inmate at the Clayton County Jail was charged with murder stemming from a racially motivated attack on another inmate.
Davis attributes social media and news coverage for shining a light on issues involving understaffing, excessive force, and lack of quality medical care at these facilities.
“If it wasn’t for social media and these videos going viral, then the stories would never get out,” said Davis.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
IN OTHER NEWS:
©2023 Cox Media Group
