Recent Deaths at Fulton Jail Bring 2025 Total Close to Last Year's Mark

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2 days ago

Two men who had been incarcerated in Fulton County Jail for over a year died in custody last week for unrelated reasons.
Shon Disola and Benjamin Pike are the third and fourth deaths in custody this year, just one shy of last year's total of five inmate deaths. Fulton County has long been plagued by overcrowding and understaffing in its jail, which has led to dozens of deaths and accounts of abuse in the past five years alone.
Devin Franklin, movement policy coordinator for the Southern Center for Human Rights, and others who are part of the Communities over Cages coalition have long advocated for the county to focus its efforts and resources on initiatives that can keep people out of jail in the first place, like job training, affordable housing, education, and access to health care.
'I think the big thing that residents should recognize is that [elected officials] keep going to a playbook that doesn't work,' Franklin said.
A particularly gruesome death in September 2022 thrust the jail's issues into the national spotlight and drew the attention of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Lashawn Thompson, 35, was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge and held in the jail's psychiatric unit from June until his death in September. An independent autopsy report, paid for by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, found the cause of death to be 'complications due to severe neglect,' with untreated decompensated schizophrenia as a contributing cause. Thompson suffered from dehydration, malnutrition, and severe body insect infestation at the time of his death. As a result of the neglect, Thompson suffered cardiac arrhythmia that caused his death.
Read More: What Killed Lashawn Thompson?
Last fall, the DOJ released a scathing 97-page report detailing the constitutional and human rights violations that have led to in-custody deaths and abuses.
Fulton County entered into a consent decree earlier this year with the Justice Department to address the many staffing, overcrowding and infrastructure issues described in the report. The deaths of both men in the past week have highlighted the fact that the changes may not be happening quickly enough for those who are currently incarcerated.
Disola, who is Black, was taken to the hospital on the evening of May 17 after reportedly experiencing a medical emergency during free time. He remained at the hospital for the next week until his death on May 25.
The 53-year-old was being held without bond since his February 2023 arrest by the Atlanta Police Department.
A few days later, Pike, who is white, was found in his cell unresponsive during headcount on the evening of May 27. When lifesaving measures were unsuccessful, the 55-year-old was pronounced dead.
Pike was arrested in February 2024 by Georgia State University Police and was being held on $2,500 bond.
When Capital B Atlanta reached out to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, officials declined to comment other than to note foul play is not suspected in either man's death.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner will conduct the autopsies on both men to determine the exact cause of death.
According the sheriff's office, both men whose deaths were reported earlier this year died by suicide.
During his reelection bid last spring, Fulton Sheriff Patrick Labat campaigned on continuing the leadership he said guided the sheriff's office through the COVID-19 pandemic and the spate of in-custody deaths that happened in the following years. He was reelected with 54.8% of the vote in the May 2024 democratic primary, and promised to continue to fight for the county to build a new $2 billion jail.
Labat has said he believes the jail's deteriorating conditions contribute to safety concerns for both inmates and the facility's staff. During a media tour of the Rice Street location last year, he highlighted how incarcerated people are able to turn deteriorating light fixtures, plumbing, and electrical wiring into weapons that they can use against one another and the deputies.
Read More: Renovating Fulton County Jail Isn't Enough
Plans for a new jail have been rejected by the county Board of Commissioners multiple times since it was proposed last year.
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