Schizophrenic prisoner’s death is ruled a homicide caused by neglect after being eaten by bed bugs

A man who died in a bedbug-infested cell in the psychiatric ward of a Georgia prison “died as a result of severe neglect,” according to an independent autopsy released Monday by lawyers for his family.

The autopsy was paid for by the Know Your Rights Camp’s Autopsy Initiative, a initiative started by former NFL star and activist Colin Kaepernick.

Lashawn Thompson, 35, died in September, three months after being incarcerated at Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail.

Public outcry over his death spread last month after a lawyer for his family, Michael Harper, released photos of Thompson’s face and body covered in bugs.

A combination of dehydration, rapid weight loss and malnutrition complicated by untreated decompensated schizophrenia led to a fatal cardiac arrhythmia, the report said.

‘Mr. Thompson was neglected to death,” says the autopsy report written by Dr. Roger A. Mitchell Jr., a former principal investigator in Washington, DC, who is now a professor and chair of the department of pathology at Howard University College of Medicine.

The independent autopsy report lists the cause of death as “Complications from Severe Neglect,” with “Untreated Decompensated Schizophrenia” as a contributing cause.

Because he did not receive necessary medical care or adequate food, water and shelter, his manner of death is murder, Mitchell wrote.

An earlier report from the Fulton County medical examiner’s office found no obvious signs of trauma on Thompson’s body, but noted a “severe bedbug infestation.” It lists his cause of death as “undetermined.”

The new autopsy “confirms that this is one of the most regrettable deaths in custody in America’s history,” said prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family.

The family’s attorneys and attorneys gave credit to Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat, who has publicly called Thompson’s death “absolutely unscrupulous.”

They called on the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to take responsibility and act quickly to resolve the problems at the prison and urged the District Attorney to pursue criminal charges.

Lawyers also called on Governor Brian Kemp to address a “mental health crisis” in the state.

Labat, who took office in 2021 and has long advocated for a new prison, says Thompson’s death shows that the current prison cannot provide “safe and humane detention.”

His office did not immediately respond to an email Monday asking for comment on the independent autopsy report.

Labat has said that once the investigation into Thompson’s death — an internal investigation by his office and another by the Atlanta Police Department — is complete, it will be turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

He announced the resignation of three top prison officers last month.

Thompson had lost 32 pounds, or about 18 percent of his body weight, during his three months in the Fulton County Jail and was showing signs of dehydration, the report said.

In addition to a “countless number of bugs” all over his body, his hands, feet, fingernails and toenails were dirty, it says.

Prison medical records indicate that 32 days before his death, Thompson received his last dose of the drugs he had been prescribed for his mental health problems, the report said.

‘Mr. Thompson was completely dependent on his caregivers for both the daily care and the acute life-saving care needed to save him from untreated decompensated schizophrenia,” the report said.

According to TMZ sportsKaepernick contacted one of the family’s lawyers, Ben Crump, to fund a second autopsy that could cost between $20 and $50,000.

TMZ also reports that Kaepernick is saddened by reports of the conditions in which the 35-year-old was held.

Kaepernick, who led the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013, was the first athlete to take a knee to protest racial inequality and police brutality.

His controversial protest action inspired many athletes to kneel during the national anthem and became an icon for the Black Lives Matter movement. However, his activism was not well received by everyone and sparked a heated nationwide debate, with some of his own fans setting fire to his jersey.

In the wake of the controversy, the NFL issued a ruling in 2018 prohibiting players from sitting or taking a knee while singing or playing The Star-Spangled Banner before games.

While the ruling has never been formally withdrawn, no player has been penalized for taking a knee and in 2020 league commissioner Roger Goodell pledged to support players protesting peacefully.

In 2017, he sued the NFL, accusing team owners of conspiring to keep him out of the league over his protests during the national anthem.

In 2019, Kaepernick settled the complaint with the NFL for an undisclosed amount after accusing owners of blacklisting him in retaliation for the controversial protests.