Prisoner ‘eaten alive by bed bugs’ in jail cell, family demands answers

In a terrifying incident, a man jailed in Atlanta, Georgia, was “eaten alive” by bedbugs in his cell. The family of the jail inmate is now demanding answers from the authority.

35-year-old LaShawn Thompson was arrested on June 12 on a charge of battery in Atlanta, according to the police reports.

On being convicted, he was taken to the Fulton County Jail and placed in the psychiatric wing after officials determined he had mental health issues. But, only three months later, Thompson was declared dead.

In a statement, Thompson’s lawyer Michael D. Harper said that his client was found dead in a jail cell after being “eaten alive by bed bugs and insects.” He also described the case as one of the most inhumane deaths he had ever seen.

Harper said that Thompson was kept in a cell that is not even fit for a diseased animal. “He did not deserve this” he further quoted.

Reportedly, Thompson spent months in those terrible conditions and no one cared.

“Someone has to be held accountable for his death,” Harper said. “The Fulton County Jail must be closed and replaced,” he added.

Harper further briefed that when a prison warder was called to give first aid to the dying man, she “freaked out” seeing so many bedbugs on his body. “The scene was so horrific,” he said, “that she would not even administer CPR when she found him”.

As per a report from the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, there were no signs of physical injury on Thompson’s body, but a “severe bed bug infestation.”

Meanwhile, Thompson’s cause of death is currently listed as “undetermined.”