ATLANTA — A 24-year-old man has died in an Atlanta hospital after being found unconscious in a jail that is already being investigated by federal authorities for potential civil rights violations.
A Fulton County Jail officer found Shawndre Delmore during a routine check just before 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 31, the county sheriff’s office said in a news release Wednesday. Prison staff attempted to resuscitate Delmore until medical personnel arrived, and he was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died on Sunday, the statement said.
Delmore is the sixth person to die in Fulton County custody since late July. He was arrested April 1 by Atlanta police and was being held on $2,500 bail for second-degree burglary. Atlanta police will investigate his death and the county medical examiner will perform an autopsy, the sheriff’s office said.
Former President Donald Trump traveled to the prison last month to be held on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The US Department of Justice opened an investigation into prison conditions in the county in July, citing violence, unsanitary conditions and the death last year of a man whose body was found covered in bugs.
Lashawn Thompson, 35, died last September in a bedbug-infested cell in the psychiatric wing of Fulton County Jail. An independent autopsy carried out at the request of his family revealed that he died as a result of gross neglect. His family has since reached an agreement with the county.
Dayvion Blake, 23, was stabbed to death and four others were injured in a prison fight on August 31. Samuel Lawrence, 34, died on August 26 at Grady Memorial Hospital after being found unconscious in his jail cell. The other three people who died last month include Alexander Hawkins, 66, Christopher Smith, 34, and Montay Stinson, 40.
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