Family of Lashawn Thompson, who died in a Georgia jail, reaches $4 million settlement with county
A family photo that was provided to CNN by Michael Harper
By Tina Burnside, CNN
(CNN) — The family of Lashawn Thompson, who died in September while incarcerated at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, has reached a $4 million settlement with the county, said Preston Thompson, chief of staff for Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett.
The agreement was reached Wednesday in a closed-door executive session with the commissioners, Thompson said in an email to CNN, adding he could not release details of the settlement.
County commissioners approved the settlement with a 6-0 vote, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Inside the jail, Thompson had been living in conditions akin to a “torture chamber,” before he ultimately died of complications stemming from severe neglect to his mental and physical health, according to his family’s attorneys and an independent medical review.
That medical review, conducted at the request of Thompson’s family, determined the 35-year-old man’s manner of death in September 2022 was a homicide, family attorneys said in May.
Michael Harper, an attorney for the Thompson family, told CNN in an email on Wednesday the family would not be making a statement regarding the settlement.
“The Fulton County Commissioners’ vote speaks for itself,” he said.
‘Lashawn’s life mattered’
Harper and civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represent the family, said in a later statement that “while we are satisfied to reach settlements in these matters with Fulton County and unidentified entities for undisclosed amounts, we are nowhere near the end of this journey to full justice.”
“We will continue to work with the Thompson family – and the community that rallied behind them – to ensure that a tragedy like this one never happens to another family or takes one more life,” the statement said. “Lashawn’s life mattered, and together, we can demand and motivate significant change in his name. That will be the legacy of Lashawn Thompson.”
Thompson was in custody on a misdemeanor assault charge and was housed in the psychiatric wing of the jail because of his mental health issues, Harper has previously said. He had been in custody for just three months when he died in September 2022.
The Fulton County medical examiner’s office listed Thompson’s manner and cause of death as undetermined, according to a document sent to CNN earlier this year. The report listed schizoaffective disorder, bipolar and acute exacerbation as “other conditions.”
The independent medical review listed “untreated decompensated schizophrenia” as a contributing cause to the death, in addition to dehydration, malnutrition and severe body insect infestation, which included lice and bed bugs, as “significant conditions.”
“The cell he was in was not fit for a diseased animal,” Harper, the family attorney, said at a news conference earlier this year. “This is inexcusable and it’s deplorable.”
At least three officials at the jail stepped down amid an investigation into Thompson’s death.
And last month, the Justice Department announced the launch of a civil rights investigation into dilapidated and unsanitary conditions at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, as well as violence against detainees, a probe that was sparked in part by Thompson’s death.
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CNN’s Devon Sayers contributed to this report.
