Inmate's Death In Georgia First Case Amid Persistent Bad Conditions In US Prisons-Attorney

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2023) While Lashawn Thompson was the first prison inmate to die because of bedbugs in his cell, he was not the only one affected by this persistent problem in US correctional facilities, Attorney Ben Crump, representing the family of the deceased inmate, said on Thursday.

"He (Thompson) wasn't the only one who was affected by those insects and bedbugs in that entire way, but he was the only one that we know of, who died," Crump said during a press conference.

Photographs released by another attorney Michael Harper and Thompson's family show his prison cell in the Fulton County Jail fitted with rusting metal furniture, which along with the walls, floor, and toilet appear to be covered in filth.

According to Crump, Brittney Griner, who was recently released from a Russian prison, had better conditions in Russia than Thompson in Fulton County in the state of Georgia.

Crump added that he considers the very conditions in Thompson's cell a human rights violation and will demand accountability for those responsible.

Crump also announced that he is going to get an independent autopsy of Thompson's body to get to the truth of what happened to him.

A report by a medical examiner stated that the cause of death was "undetermined," but also noted that "the decedent's body was covered in bed bugs," according to media reports.

A local rights group, the Southern Center for Human Rights, has previously stated that the Fulton County Jail has undergone outbreaks of lice and scabies and has for decades suffered from overcrowding and mismanagement.