A 35-year-old man who was ‘eaten alive by bedbugs’ is one step closer to receiving justice after a prison staffer who contributed to ‘neglecting him to death’ has been sentenced
A female prison guard has pleaded guilty in connection with the death of an inmate who was “eaten alive by bedbugs” inside an insect-ridden “death chamber”.
Stephanie Cooper admitted depriving essential services, cruelty to inmates and two counts of violation of oath of office in relation to the death of Lashawn Thompson, 35, in a psychiatric wing of Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US.
Thompson, who suffered from schizophrenia, was found dead slumped over a toilet seat in a filthy cell, which was filled with garbage and infested with insects. His death in 2022 came three months after he was jailed for spitting at a police officer.
Thompson was found in a malnourished state with an “enormous presence of body lice” and his heartbroken family likened his cell to a death chamber. They claim he had been “eaten alive” by bed bugs.
Horrific photos of Thompson after his death showed his face and mouth covered in insects. Michael Harper, an attorney for Thompson’s, previously stated prison workers watched the man’s health decline before his tragic death.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Thompson had been living in a “torture chamber” and that his death was “most deplorable death in custody case in the history of America.”
An independent autopsy commissioned by Thompson’s family and funded by activist Colin Kaepernick ruled his death a homicide caused by cardiac arrhythmia due to severe neglect and untreated schizophrenia.
Dr Roger Mitchell Jr, a former chief medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, said he was “neglected to death.”
In the autopsy, he wrote: “The death of Mr Lashawn Thompson resulted from severe neglect evidenced by untreated schizophrenia, poor living conditions, poor grooming, extensive and severe body insect infestation, dehydration, and rapid weight loss.”
Cooper is the first person to face a criminal resolution for Thompson’s death, which sparked national outrage in the US. But she will not face any jail time herself after entering a guilty plea under Georgia’s First Offender Act and was sentenced to 10 years of probation.
The provision that allows defendants without prior felony convictions to be exonerated of guilt as a matter of law once probation is completed. Her felony record can eventually be wiped clean despite the severity of her charges.