Fifth inmate dead in five weeks at troubled Georgia jail being probed by feds

One inmate has died and four others were injured in a stabbing incident at Fulton County Jail, which means an incarcerated person has died every week for the last five weeks at the Atlanta facility currently under federal investigation.

The fatal stabbing Thursday is the ninth death at the jail so far this year, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office communications director Natalie Ammons told USA TODAY.

Dayvion Blake, 23, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital along with three other inmates, all with stab wounds, the sheriff’s office announced Friday. Blake was pronounced dead at 3:29 p.m. Thursday, according to the sheriff's office.

Two others have been released back to the jail, Ammons said Friday, and one remains at the hospital in stable condition. Another inmate with stab wounds was treated by medical staff at the jail. The sheriff's office said a dispute among inmates led to the stabbings.

“The recent outbreak of violence at the Fulton County Jail is of grave concern but unfortunately is not surprising considering the long-standing, dangerous overcrowding and the crumbling walls of the facility that are literally being crafted into makeshift weapons that inmates use to attack each other and staff,” Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said in a statement.

The department has been working with other detention facilities, including those out of state, to “outsource” inmates, Labat noted. The sheriff said he has been clear about the need for a replacement jail with smart technology and other measures to increase security and relieve overcrowding since taking office in January 2021.

The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy on Blake, and the Atlanta Police Department will release the names and criminal charges of the incarcerated people involved in the stabbing, the sheriff’s office said Friday.

Blake was being held for various charges, including battery, according to the sheriff’s office.

The Fulton County Jail is where former President Donald Trump and 18 others indicted along with him surrendered last week for booking on charges related to an alleged illegal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.

Fulton County Jail's violent recent history

Before the stabbing, the last death reported from the jail was on Saturday. A detention officer found Samuel Lawrence, 34, unresponsive during dinner rounds, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. Lawrence was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The sheriff's office also announced the deaths of three other people in Fulton County Jail’s custody since July 31. Alexander Hawkins, 66, Christopher Smith, 34, and Montay Stinson, 40, were all found unresponsive and later pronounced dead.

Earlier this month, county officials approved a $4 million settlement for the family of a man who died at the jail last year after he was found unresponsive and covered in bed bug bites. An independent autopsy determined LaShawn Thompson, 35, died due to “severe neglect” from Fulton County Jail staff.

Following Thompson's death, county commissioners approved $5.3 million for inmate health tracking, cameras, and other jail upgrades in April, and the Department of Justice opened a civil investigation to determine whether the jail routinely violates inmates' constitutional and civil rights.

DOJ investigating jail after Thompson's death last year

The department will examine living conditions, access to medical and mental health care, use of excessive force by staff, conditions that may fuel violence between incarcerated people, and discrimination against incarcerated people with psychiatric conditions.

The level of violence in the jail is "deeply concerning," Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, previously said.

At one point in 2022, the jail averaged more than one stabbing per day, and a search by the sheriff's office uncovered more than 200 weapons inside the main facility, according to Clarke. There were also three suspected homicides at the main facility last year, and in one case, the victim's body was reportedly concealed for hours before being found, she said.

"Inmates are literally crafting shanks from the crumbling walls of the dilapidated facility," Labat said earlier this year.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 1 dead in stabbing at Fulton County Jail under federal probe