A next inmate has died in Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail in the past 7 days, in accordance to the county’s sheriff’s business office.
The jail was characterized as “fatal” in a headline in Atlanta magazine in July 2023. There have been 28 deaths at the jail since 2022, which includes the most the latest just one, according to Chamian Cruz, a prison justice reporter at Atlanta’s WABE, an NPR station.
The jail’s identify may perhaps audio common because it is where by Donald Trump was booked right after his indictment on prices of conspiring to overturn Joe Biden‘s 2020 election earn in Ga. Trump, the GOP’s presumptive nominee for president, has pleaded not responsible to all prices and says the circumstance is politically enthusiastic.
The director of communications at the sheriff’s business, Natalie Ammons, instructed Newsweek on Wednesday: “I can confirm an inmate demise this early morning. No other information to release at this time.”
Cruz, who in the beginning broke the information of the inmate loss of life, explained on X (formerly Twitter) that this is the 3rd documented death at the jail this yr.
Joe Raedle/Getty Illustrations or photos
Fulton County Jail inmate Leonard Fortner, 37, died previous Thursday evening after he was allegedly stabbed several occasions by fellow inmate Edward Cherry, 36, according to The Related Push, which cited the sheriff’s business. The stabbing transpired just right before 6:30 p.m. regional time in the day space of the housing zone exactly where both men lived.
Cherry had been in jail because April 2020, held with out bond on numerous fees, together with aggravated assault and kidnapping. In the meantime, Fortner had been an inmate at the jail considering that this previous January and was currently being held with no bond on a cost of criminal injury to house.
Due to the fact the stabbing, Cherry faces new expenses of murder, aggravated assault and possession of a knife for the duration of the fee of a felony, the AP explained, citing the sheriff’s workplace.
In July 2023, the U.S. Section of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into ailments at the Fulton County Jail, citing violence, filthy situations and the death of a man whose overall body was discovered lined in bugs in September 2022.
“Persons in prisons and jails are entitled to fundamental protections of their civil rights,” Attorney General Merrick Garland claimed in a assertion at the time.
“We launched this investigation into the Fulton County Jail based on critical allegations of unsafe, unsanitary living problems at the jail, extreme power and violence inside the jail, discrimination in opposition to incarcerated folks with psychological wellbeing issues, and failure to give adequate health care treatment to incarcerated individuals,” he stated.
“Through this complete review of the circumstances of confinement at the Fulton County Jail, the Justice Division will identify irrespective of whether systemic violations of federal rules exist, and if so, how to accurate them,” Garland stated.
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat earlier reported that he is geared up to thoroughly cooperate with the investigation and hopes that it will direct to confirmation that a new jail is wanted.
Labat said in a assertion that he has “publicly, privately, and regularly elevated worries about the perilous overcrowding, dilapidated infrastructure and significant staffing shortages at the jail.”
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